A cyclist moving through Shark Valley in Florida’s Everglades encountered a predator-prey scene that has become symbolic of South Florida’s long battle with invasive Burmese pythons: an American alligator gripping one of the giant snakes in its jaws, biting at the carcass before swimming away with the python still clamped in its mouth. The footage offers a rare close look at a native predator consuming an invasive snake that has spent decades reshaping the Everglades food web, although previous records show that alligators have eaten pythons before and the encounter should not be interpreted as evidence that Florida’s python crisis is suddenly reversing.
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