Crabby 1…Alligator 0
Crabs are a big delicacy for the alligators, they just love to crunch down a nice fresh, tasty crab. We had already seen this young gator catch and eat a small crab in the salt marsh yesterday evening so we knew what dinner item he was in the mood for.
The young hunter quickly spotted another meal, and this time it would be the main course as it was a much larger blue crab than the one he had caught previously. The alligator went into stealth mode trying to sneak up behind the crab hoping to catch it by surprise and have no trouble munching down the potential tasty treat. An older, more experienced alligator would have been much less subtle in the stalking procedure and likely would have gone for a quick grab and crunch but that was not this young gator’s style.
The youngster took too much time being sneaky and the crab must have heard him coming up from behind because Crabby quickly whipped himself around and raised his claws defiantly.
As the gator inched forward, Crabby reached out with his right claw and gave the gator a good hard pinch on the end of his nose! The startled alligator jerked his head to the side to be free of the crab’s claw while Crabby scurried to his right and partially submerged himself in the mud of a shallow pool while keeping both claws raised in a threatening manner.
The now severely annoyed young alligator backed up and gave Crabby a piece of his mind but Crabby was not impressed because he was the winner today and will live to tell the tale. You don’t get to be a big crab by being timid and Crabby was not prepared to go down without a fight and emerged victorious on this day.
The dejected and defeated alligator turned and slowly slunk off back into the water with a plan to go catch some fish which he knows will put up much less of a struggle.
Phil Lanoue Photography 
Wow, that was a great captured sequence, Phil! Love it.
Hey thanks Patty, glad you like these photos, it was fun to see and I’m still shocked Crabby didn’t get crunched.
Super series!
Thank you! I’m happy you enjoyed seeing gator/crab action.
Did the gator actually catch the crab or did the crab manage to sink into the mud far enough that it got away? It doesn’t look like the gator was intimidated by the crabs threat display.
Crab got away and the alligator didn’t like being grabbed on his nose.
Good for crabby. Great photos.
Crabby won this time! Glad you liked the photos!
I love cheering for the under dog. Fantastic action you captured. Hopefully you weren’t cheering for the gator!
Um, ah, well, I sort of was rooting for the gator at first, maybe because I assumed Crabby had zero chance of escaping certain demise. But once I realized he had beaten off the gator, I jumped right into Crabby’s corner. 🙂
At least no one can accuse you of jumping on the band wagon:)
I was kind of going with the front runner a little bit maybe at the end there. Heh heh
The phrase “a terrible fascination” describes why we are drawn to watch battles like this one between the crab and gator.
It’s true and a similar feeling arises on those times when we have seen an alligator grab a bird. It’s cringe worthy to watch and we feel awful for the bird. Funny how we never really feel all that bad for the fish and crabs though.
Wow! Even in the first image that crab looks really mean. Talk about David and Goliath 😉
He does have a serious look on his face for sure. I guess this time that alligator picked on the wrong crab.
Most certainly!! Made me laugh so had to share it on Facebook 🙂
Glad to hear it! 🙂
I absolutely love your stories and pics!
I have fun getting the photos and putting them with the story of how it all happened so I’m really happy you like seeing it here!
So cool. Crabby barely escaped that one!
Crabby was lucky it was a young alligator that was after him and not one of the big boys who would have snatched poor crabby in a heartbeat. It was a good size crab so it’s likely not the first battle he has been in either. 🙂
Brave little crab!
Another brilliantly captured sequence on your part.
Yes our pal Crabby would not back down and good for him because he lived to crab around another day!
Reblogged this on 51richierich51's Favourite Music and Stuff.
Hey thanks much for the reblog!
Go, Craggy, go! That first photo in the series – I guess the young alligator thought he was a Ninja. It was almost comical – his being so large and yet trying to be stealthy. And Crabby being so teeny. I’m sure the alligator will get other meals, but you just had to root for Crabby in this one! Especially with that nose pinch. (The alligator’s markings and colors are really pretty, and I enjoyed the detail on the crab as well.)
The more I look at the photos the more I keep thinking the alligator looks like a puppy that found something to play with, but he’s finding out that his new ‘toy’ plays a bit rough.
The younger alligators like this one often have very colorful and attractive colorization and stripes.
Crabby wins!
Wonderful! Love that first shot…. 🙂
That gator looks like a puppy that just found a cute play thing! Thanks for checking these out.
Fantastic captures, Phil, but Mr A’s table manners leave much to be desired. 🙂
Oh Mr. A can indeed be a very messy eater. Actually, he seems to be messy about a lot of things. Part of his charm I suppose. 🙂
Love it: “You don’t get to be a big crab by being timid.” Excellent photos and great story to go with.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this story along with the photos. And yes indeed, this must be a very wise and experienced crab!
So funny! hahaha!
I love this photo!
NICE!
Thank you very much! I am so happy you liked the photos!
谢谢