Alligator Goes Up in Smoke After Eating a Drone
This is a story of "old school" meeting "new school". In this case, it was old school claiming the win. Let me set the stage for you. It happened in the Florida Everglades. If you're not familiar with the Everglades, they are a subtropical wetland ecosystem. The 'Glades, as they are often referred to span more than two million acres across central and southern Florida.
Many of the inhabitants of the Florida Everglades are alligators. The prehistoric reptiles have been living in the Everglades since, well probably since there were Everglades to live in. The marshy environment provided by the Everglades is a perfect habitat for the alligators too.
That's probably why a group of photographers were in the Everglades. They needed to get some good photos of alligators and it only seems natural that this would be the place they could do that.
The alligator they decided to film must have been familiar to the group because they named him George. By the way, if you haven't figured it out, George represents the "old school" in our story.
The "new school" is in the form of a modern drone. The people flying the drone had hoped to fly the remote control aircraft close enough to George so they could snap a great picture of the beast with its mouth open. I have to admit, that would be a pretty great shot.
What unfolded was not what the drone pilot, the photographers, and the assembled crowd were expecting.
That's George waiting for his "prey" to fly by so he can open his incredible jaws and eat it. Now in this next frame, you can see George has locked in on the drone.
By the way, the drone is really hard to see. It's just above the alligator's nose. I know in this still shot it looks like a stick or a twig but trust us, that's a drone.
In this frame, George has stretched out of the swampy water and grabbed the drone in his mouth. It's at this point in the video you might hear some "off-color" language that is certainly NSFW. But I can't blame the assembled crowd for their choice of words. I said the same thing when I watched the video too.
So, we're now at the point where the alligator has eaten the drone. That should be the end of the story, right? Well, it isn't look at this frame below.
Obviously, George's incredible teeth and jaws have broken something important on the drone and that something is beginning to smoke. In the video, you can actually hear a small "pop" while the 'gator with a mouthful of drone is underwater.
As you can see, the more George chews, the thicker the smoke gets.
Until finally all we see is smoke as George and the drone have moved beneath the surface of the water.
I am sure most of you are wondering one thing. That thing is, "is George, the alligator, okay"? The answer. We don't know. He disappeared beneath the surface of the water and the people that were filming the video were unable to discern if his ingestion of the drone caused him any ill feelings.
I am pretty sure George is fine since alligators have a digestive system that can basically tackle every substance on Earth. However, we can't be sure. So, now are you ready to watch the video in real-time?
It's actually two videos that have been pieced together and again I remind you that there is NSFW language uttered during the video, so watch with caution or at least the sound down.
Now, if you'd like to explore some Louisiana wetlands that also come complete with alligators here is a destination we'd love to show you in person.
16 Photos from Lake Martin, Louisiana