Dramatic Alligator Battle Caught On Video

CLEARWATER, FL — A Clearwater office worker out to enjoy a sunny afternoon by taking an outdoor lunchbreak recently found himself holding front row seats for an epic battle between two alligators.

As the man was soaking up some Florida sun, it seems a rather sizeable alligator decided to do the same by taking a waterside stroll. The gator, however, caught the attention of another who made a point to protect its turf.

“This intense fight was captured on my lunch break outside my office,” the man explained on a video posted to Espo Entertainment Network’s YouTube channel.

The man’s raw video recording shows the second gator as it climbs out of the water and rushes in for the attack. The turf-conscious gator grabbed the interloper by the tail and the two locked in teeth and all for a wrestling match. Just who ended up claiming victory remains unclear as the battling gators managed to roll themselves into the water and out of the camera’s view.

See Also:

• 11-Foot Gator Eats Burglar
• Photos: Monster Gators Wrestle On Golf Course
• Monster Gator Invades Florida Golf Course
• 765-Pound Monster Gator Bagged in Florida

Alligator encounters are par for the course in Florida where the creatures call many a pond, lake and river home. Witnessing battles between the prehistoric-looking beasts, however, isn’t all that common. Even so, golfers in Englewood also managed to catch a glimpse of such a sight not too long ago. In that brawl, Myakka Pines Golf Club’s celebrity alligator Goliath was seen holding his ground against another bull gator who made the mistake of entering his territory.

In 2015, the state of Florida logged two alligator-related human deaths. In December, a man accused of burglarizing homes in Brevard County was reportedly eaten by an alligator. A man swimming in the waters of Blue Spring State Park was killed in October.

Despite the state’s bustling alligator population, fatal attacks are not common in Florida. Between 1948 and 2013, there were 22 fatalities recorded, according to FWC records. During that period, a total of 122 minor bites and 235 major bites were also logged. The last fatal alligator attack on record prior to this year occurred in 2007.

Alligator-related human fatalities might not be common, but encounters with the creatures are. Those encounters add up to so many over the course of any given year that the state has set up its own hotline to accept nuisance alligator calls. That number is 1-866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).

In 2013 alone, the state fielded 15,036 nuisance alligator calls, which resulted in the removal of 6,605 creatures.

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