The St. Petersburg Times

MIAMI – Talk about biting off more than you can chew.

A 13-foot Burmese python tried to swallow a 6-foot alligator in Everglades National Park – and exploded.


Everglades National Park

Scientists stumbled on the gory remains last week after a helicopter pilot spotted the carcasses. The gator’s tail and hind legs were protruding from the python’s ruptured gut, the two bodies locked together so tightly that it was almost hard to make out which was which.

“If the python got a good grip on the alligator before the alligator got a good grip on him, he could win,” said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor who is an expert on gators and other reptiles.

Mazzotti thinks that as the gator was being swallowed, it clawed at the python’s stomach, making the snake burst.

This happened in Oct., 2005, but for some unknown reason, they ran the story and photo today. I had never heard of it before. I think the python was a little over-ambitious.




  1. D Huber says:

    I was going to say this is a very old story. So I didn’t understand why a Florida newspaper would just be running it now. When I clicked on the link the story is dated in Oct. 2005. This was a fairly common story back then. Especially here in Florida.

    [Notice the comments in the linked article are mostly from today. – ed.]

  2. GigG says:

    It made it to the most e-mailed list. They probably reset the counter.

  3. apeguero says:

    This was even on either Discovery or the Nat Geo Channel not too long ago as well. Talk about old.

  4. TatooYou says:

    I guess I missed it first time around, thanks hhopper!

  5. bobbo says:

    Failed Darwin experiment. Dumb snake is supposed to kill their food then eat it. Like rape follows pillaging.

  6. Lou says:

    Shoud have ordered the hot Wings.

  7. Daniel says:

    Last Post!

  8. the answer says:

    damn You couldn’t even tell what it was from the picture. It’s like Lake Placid II the Revenge.

  9. MrBloedumpSpladderschitt says:

    #5 – poor analogy. Who says pillaging has to come first?

  10. bobbo says:

    #10–ok–but does burning come last?

  11. moe29 says:

    mutually assured destruction.

    (don’t F with Gators!) 🙂

  12. Mister Catshit says:

    #11, bobbo,

    It can if you don’t use protection.

  13. AdmFubar says:

    more monty python:
    have a waffer thin mint…..

  14. K B says:

    Thanks, moss (#7).

  15. Gary, the dangerous infidel says:

    #7, #15 Wow! What are the odds that it would happen twice? 😉

  16. K B says:

    #16, Everybody loves an exploding python story. I know I can’t get through Thanksgiving dinner without one.


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