IT ALL COMES AROUND
Alligators
usually follow a series of non-violent behaviors when interacting with each other.
But they are animals, not machines, just like we are. People, which are
supposed to be "civilized",
may react savagely if provoked in the right
way. The same can be said for any of our domestic animals.
Occasionally,
even alligators will react violently towards each other. It is foolish
to
provoke any wild animal, regardless of size or disposition. The
animals
have a right to live in their habitat, and humans can share it with
them if they take the time to understand the animals.
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IT ALL COMES AROUND
On
Sunday
morning, I went out to look for it, and found it along the Spillway
Trail,
near a concrete culvert. As disturbing as this dead alligator looks
(It's
a bit distressing that an alligator this
large is dead.), the sight
is NOTHING compared to the smell. The carcass was right next to
the culvert (see BLOATED FLOATER, below). I was surprised and a little
disappointed that there
were no alligators feeding on the carcass, but
I took a few pictures anyway. As I was walking away, I turned and
looked
back at the dead alligator one more time, and I saw it move...almost
like
it was drifting with a current. But, there was no
current!
When I went back and looked down, I saw this ten-foot alligator (see
NOT
QUITE DRIFTING, below) holding onto the tail. The
water in this part of
the Pilant Slough is often tinted dark by leaves. The live alligator
was
resting underwater, and its dark color was invisible in the dark,
shaded
water. As I watched, it
submerged again (see MY FLOATING DINNER,
below).
The last image (LIVE ANCHOR, below) is a closer, cropped version of the
same image. The alligator finally submerged totally,
and I watched the
carcass get towed away. I had this mental image of the alligator towing
this meal like a kid with a balloon. At this time, it began to rain,
and
I also had to give a program
in the VC/NC, so I left the area.
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REALLY BLOATED
FLOATER
NOT QUITE
DRIFTING
MY FLOATING
DINNER
LIVE ANCHOR CLOSER
Later,
after my program, one of the park visitors mentioned the dead
alligator,
and said that another one was actively feeding upon it. So, I went back
to take a look. Today's RICKUBISCAM
shows the large alligator swimming
towards this gruesome pi�ata (when this thing bursts, LOOK
OUT!).
I didn't have my video camera with me (sometimes it's just too much
gear
to load and
unload from the car, etc.), but I was able to get a few
video
clips with my Olympus C750. The images below are single frames
from
three sections of a single video clip. Part 1--PULL AND
BITE, below,
shows
the alligator pulling the carcass (it was about 25 yards away), and
then
grabbing with its mouth and preparing to spin. Part 2--SPIN OFF A
PIECE,
below, shows the
alligator going into its spin. This is amazing! I've
never
seen one do it before, and I can't believe how fast the alligator
spins,
and for how long! I didn't break this clip further because I didn't
want
to break the spin. Part 3--SWALLOW THE PIECE, below, shows the
alligator
lifting its head so it can swallow what it has torn off. Or, click this
link to se the entire clip in one piece
: FULL
VIDEO CLIP 2319 kb I really hope we
don't
see any more dead alligators.
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PULL AND
BITE
SPIN OFF A
PIECE!
SWALLOW THE PIECE
VIDEO PART 1 567 kb
VIDEO PART 2 1117 kb
VIDEO PART 3 802 kb
July
12, 2004One
other event worthy of note: During the week, a number of park visitors
reported seeing large dead alligators (at least 6 feet long)
being
eaten by even larger alligators.
Park Naturalist David Heinicke was
able
to witness a part of this, and was even able to take pictures (see DEAD
GATOR, below). Unfortunately, I was unable to get to the park soon
enough
to see any of this myself. It is thought that there may have been 2 or
3 alligators actually killed (not the 4 or 5 first thought), and that
as
they were eaten, their carcasses were moved about the
park. Some bad
news
was that one dead alligator was a female that apparently left a nest
with
live eggs. The eggs were taken and will be incubated and hopefully
hatched
in captivity.
---------------------------------------------------------
DEAD GATOR
March
29, 2004
The image below (ALLIGATOR WRESTLING) shows that one should never
consider
wrestling an alligator...even if one IS an alligator. March 29
was
a Monday, and I'd
taken a day off to go to the park to see if I could
find
any alligator mating behavior to film. I didn't see any courtship, but I did see
*this*. For now, I'll just post this list of events as I saw
them,
with the clip numbers referenced in parenthesis. Not ALL the
clips
are here. Note--6/7/2019--A
lot has changed since I first posted this article 15 years ago. For
many reasons, video clips
from this time were small. Due to recent
interest in some of this material--due to social media--I've tried to
upgrade the video. For now, I've resized the original video
(from 352 x
240 to 800 x 600 ) and converted the format (from .flv to .mp4).
Hopefully this makes the clips watchable. I've also made a few
minor edits in the text-mostly because I changed
the length of some of
the clips. One more thing--I have found the original camcorder
tape with this footage! I will transfer it to SP DVD, and then rip that
into video files. This should yield
even better quality video. I
just have to make time to do it. Until then, thanks for visiting! Rick
D.
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ALLIGATOR WRESTLING!
The
feeding alligator is about 7 feet long and the small alligator is about
3 feet long.
My
video
record started at about 10:43am(clip680). As time progressed, I had to
start and stop the video recording. This was advisable because the
alligator
spent long periods of time not
moving(perhaps resting). When the larger
alligator began to move, I'd resume filming. This worked out well,
since
I only had 20 minutes of video tape.
Unfortunately,
I missed the beginning
of the situation, so I don't know how or why the
smaller alligator was in this predicament. The large gaps of time
represent
periods that the alligator remained still.
10:46-10:47
Large alligator continues chewing on the neck and upper body of smaller
alligator. Smaller alligator shows movement--possibly reflexive--
rear-leg
stepping and slow tail
sweeping.(clip681)
11:03-11:04
Large alligator had moved back into the water, and comes back out at
this
time. It crawls almost entirely onto mudbank, chewing on and dragging
small
alligator which it still
is holding by the "shoulder" area.
11:17 Large alligator still chews on shoulder area.
11:34
Alligator chews, then lifts upper body and does first "whip" of smaller
alligator. One time only. Rain clouds moved into area at this time, so
darkness falls.(clip684)
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VIDEO CLIP 680 mp4
VIDEO CLIP 681 mp4
VIDEO CLIP 684 mp4
11:43
Alligator has backed into the water, at the same time alligators have
started
bellowing nearby (within 50 yards) in Elm Lake, and also further away.
It moves back onto mudbank, still
chewing shoulder area. 11:46
Alligator
begins chewing, and does second "whip". Carcass makes loud slap sound
on
mud bank.
11:52 Alligator does 3rd whip.
11:58
4th whip. 5th whip. No. 5 makes pop sound against mud. Continues
movement this time, takes a step backwards (into water), then whip
number
6. Number 6 makes LOUD pop noise
against water.(clip687)
NEW
CLIP ADDED 04/12/04: "Whip Number 6" is shown in slow motion (link clip 687b).
Seen this way, the movement is much more graceful. The "whip" can be
broken
down into separate
parts. 1) First, he raises his upper body with his
forelegs.
This lifts the prey off the ground and clears his body for rapid
movement.
2) He pushes forward with his rear legs, while cocking his
head to the
*left* side. 3) His upper body moves up, forward, and then falls
to the *right* side, which gives it momentum. 4) As the body nears the
ground (the right foreleg touches the ground),
the alligator begins
whipping
his upper body and head in the direction his body is
falling--transferring
the stored energy through the rotation point of his neck towards the
end
of his snout.
5) The alligator's body lays onto the ground, while the
snout
continues whipping towards, and then past, his body midline( still
moving
towards the right). The energy set in motion by the large
mass of
the alligator's body is now transferred to the alligator's head, which
is still moving in the direction started by the fall. 6) the
energy
is now transferred to the carcass, as the alligator
jerks its head back
in the other direction (back towards the left), so that stress is
transferred
to any leverage points that are held in the alligator's jaws.This jerk
to the left is assisted by his
entire body pulling and curving to the
left.
This jerk is either strong enough to move his body to the right, or
he's
taking a slight step in that direction. With the continued "chewing" on
the
connective tissues to weaken them, this whip-cracking should
eventually
cause the carcass to tear into smaller pieces.
At
least, that's how *I* see it. This is not unlike the physics used in
some
martial arts movements, and I think it's pretty cool.
12:02 7th whip. This whip is also loud pop against water. 12:03 8th whip. Alligator steps forward and carcass hits ground, not loudly.
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-
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VIDEO
CLIP 687b slowmotion
VIDEO CLIP 690 mp4
VIDEO CLIP 691 mp4
12:09
9th whip. Alligator steps back. 10th whip. Whip number 10 is LOUD
against
water. Alligator still chewing head/shoulder area.
12:11
Around 12:09-12:10 Large alligator appeared directly behind us on
shoreline
of Elm Lake. We moved people and tripods at my request. 12:11, Large
alligator
walks mostly onto
bank and rests. 12:14 Large Alligator crosses trail
and
moves into puddle. (clip690)
12:18
Moved tripod back to original position. Large alligator moves upon
feeding
alligator from behind. It is perhaps 50 percent larger than feeding
alligator.
Feeding alligator runds and
evades, submerging. Large alligator moves
towards
us, faces us, shows tail arch. (clip691)
12:19
Feeding alligator reappears, and swims off--still holding smaller
alligator
in its mouth. 12:22 Large alligator pursues, until feeding alligator is
forced into very shallow water, where
it moves and hides in grass.
Large
alligator stops where water still covers at least half of body (about
20
feet back from hiding alligator). Body straigh, minor tail arch, with
last
3rd of tail
swishing slowly back and forth. Large alligator eventually
broke off, and moved back into pond.(clip692)
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VIDEO CLIP 692 mp4
I'm
very
happy I got to see all of this. I don't know what started the conflict
in the first place, although alligators normally move into that large
puddle
(or small pond) to feed for a while before
moving back into a deeper
body
of water. Since I was constantly pausing and filming with the
camcorder,
I couldn't get any pictures with my still camera. I think that the
slapping
noises
are what called the larger alligator. The "headslap" has a very
similar sound. There was another large alligator *behind* the one that
crossed, but it remained in Elm Lake, about 10 feet
from shore, and
eventually
swam off after the trail crossing. This also illustrates the
difficulty
that an alligator has separating prey into pieces that it can swallow.
It was also interesting that
the alligator held on to its prize (the
smaller
gator) even while being chased.
The date was September 4,
1992.
Donna was at Brazos Bend park, when she was alerted to living proof of something that many visitors
to the park find unbelievable. That was the sight
of a large alligator
(Donna
estimated it at about 10
feet
long) that was eating a smaller alligator (about 4 feet long). No one
had
witnessed the events leading
to this ending, so any
reasons for the attack are strictly conjectural.
Closeups in the videotape show that
many flies had already made an appearance, so the kill had probably
been
made
some time before.
When
alligators
make a kill that is too large to swallow whole, they will carry the
carcass
around, sometimes for days,
until it has softened enough to break up and swallow. Click the link
below
for
a small clip showing this.
Alligator
eating another 14,593 kb (no sound) 
Note
how much difficulty the large alligator is having with the dead one.
They
are not "built" for attacking large prey items. Their teeth are
poorly-configured
for tearing
flesh. Also, an alligator has very tough skin, and would be
difficult for almost anything to dismember. There is a good possibility
that this was the result of a territorial
dispute gone bad.
The next day, September
5,
1992, Donna was once again at the right place at the right time with a
video
camera. This time, in Elm
Lake at the park, the fish were dying off, evidently due
to an algae
bloom
that
had depleted the oxygen in
the water. The fish were congregating near the surface of the
lake.
Lining
up for this free food were
a huge number of alligators of all
sizes. Among the alligators in
the park about
this time were apparent
strangers
to the park. These "visitors" seemed to be darker than most of the other
alligators, and also were
apparently more aggressive. During the course of this video, one
alligator
can
be seen chasing other
alligators,
away from this stretch of shoreline. In the clip below, one of the
territorial
conflicts takes
place. Immediately after this clip, the alligators both moved out
towards
deeper water, where they
tussled
again. There is a large "clump" sound from within the
disturbance, and
only one alligator
immediately
surfaced. Click the link below, next to the image to see
the first part of this
battle.
These alligators are at least 10 feet long.
Alligator
territorial conflict 2,959 kb (no sound) 
The picture above is one of a series of 32 images. Click on this link to see them. Alligator Territorial Dispute Sequence
As
far as I could see from the video, there was none of the usual
evaluation
of social status for either alligator. The one just attacked the other.
From what I've heard
from witnesses there at the time, it seemed to be
a very large alligator that was attacking the others. It probably came
to the park from somewhere else (so wasn't born
there) and viewed
everything
else close to its size (including humans) as interlopers in its adopted
territory. It eventually had to be destroyed because of this behavior.
This
is very unusual behavior for an alligator. Remember, almost every one
who
is reading this is certainly living within 50 yards of a large predator
that attacks humans
by the thousands every year. At least two people
were
killed by this predator in my home town over the last year.
That
predator is the domestic dog. Our friend and
companion (I can't
live without one), it can still attack if provoked in the wrong way,
and
most attacks could be prevented by better understanding of dog
behavior.
However, such attacks are not usual dog behavior. Neither is
this
aggression shown here normal among alligators. Note that of all the
alligators
swimming around,
only one was aggressive.
A little later on, Donna
(who
was standing quite close to the shore during all this), noticed the
alligator
below in
territorial/aggressive
posture. While she was filming, she assumed at first
that this rather
unwelcome attention was
focused
on another alligator in the water near her. However, not much later, it
seems fairly obvious that
Donna herself was the creature that was
annoying the alligator.
Fortunately,
although this alligator made
a few passes near shore, and actually paused in front of Donna a few
times,
it never left the water and
attempted to do
anything else. Click on the link near the picture to
see
the clip.
Alligator
aggressive posture 7,165 kb (no sound) 
The picture above is one of a series of 37 images. Click on this link to see them.Alligator Aggression Display Sequence
If you'd like to know more about the park follow these links:
Brazos Bend State Park The main page.
Brazos Bend State Park Volunteer's Page The volunteer's main page.
Here are a few links to more information on alligators. There's a LOT of it out there.
Fish and Wildlife Endangered Species
And, this page shows alligators at the park, on land, near various landmarks at the park.
Go back to my main alligator page, Alligators
Go back to my home page, Welcome
to rickubis.com
Go
back to the See
the World page.
