Viewer Discretion Is Advised…
Warning: The following scenes may be too intense for some viewers. They are intended for mature audiences only. Viewer discretion is advised…
This morning we saw an alligator near one of his usual spots but something immediately looked different. He had something in his mouth, some sort of animal. I don’t know whether he found it or caught it, but it was already dead and he could easily have been carrying it around the marsh for some time. He was holding it mostly under water at first and I couldn’t tell what he was having for breakfast. Eventually the alligator started lifting the animal up, thrashing it around, then throwing it back down into the water.
This went on for some time but I quickly realized the alligator had a raccoon. The gator seemed as surprised as I was and he actually didn’t appear to know exactly what to do with his catch. He wanted to eat it of course, but it’s too big to gulp right down, and alligators are not especially good chewers when it comes to larger birds or animals. They need to somehow tear off smaller bits so that was one reason why he was bashing it about and carrying it all over the place.
He swam over to a small bit of land and sat there with the raccoon for a while, even falling asleep at one point with the prey still grasped in his mouth. He tried smacking the raccoon into the ground several times in an attempt to shake loose some tasty bits.
After a while he swam across the marsh to the far back edge of the water with his catch which caught the attention of another alligator and a brief struggle and chase ensued. The by now very hungry gator ultimately swam back toward my side of the water where he once again sat still with his partially chewed up meal.
I realized that this could go on for some time and if the alligator can’t manage to eat most of his prize he will likely stash it somewhere and come back for it later. Of course in the meantime it could be found by some other alligator who will attempt to make his own meal of the by now marinated feast.
But once again…high drama out in the marsh!
Phil Lanoue Photography 
Great images, Phil! This ‘gator was still trying to finish off the racoon at 5 this afternoon!
Wouldn’t surprise me if he was still dragging that raccoon around tomorrow morning.
Thanks for looking!
I think they find it useful to let their food decay a bit so that it is falling apart tender.
Oh yeah, they love it when their food marinates and ripens a bit. 🙂
I’m not a fan of raccoons since they have killed numbers of our chickens over the years. These are magnificent photos Phil. Glad the gator got a morsel more than he knew what to do with!
I was even surprised to see thus guy trying such a big meal this early in the season. I would not be surprised if he just stumbled upon that raccoon and took advantage of an opportunity more by instinct then anything else.
Wow! That’s not something you see every day! Perfect shots of the action.
Thanks for checking these out and glad you liked them! I really don’t see something like this very often. More likely I see them eating fish and crabs.
Marinated feast is a great description. I love the sequence – what an interesting problem for a gator.
It sounds funny but they really do enjoy a nicely marinated meal. The problem comes up when a gator goes back to claim his perfectly done dish and astonishingly somebody else already took it! How disappointing.
And this was a huge problem for the boy. He wants to eat it but can’t gulp it. They need to figure a way to use their big paws to hold stuff while they rip at it. But would that be good for the rest of us?!?
Oh, at first I thought it a dog. A bit relieved it was a racoon. Wonderful captures, Phil – right place, right time.
When I first saw it I thought he had an otter. We have had one or two around recently and at first I only saw brown fur. I still feel bad about the poor raccoon but we have a ton of those and not many otters.
Oh well, so it goes in nature.
Wow – hope that wasn’t Vicky’s little “Rocky” from her fall photo collection! Great captures – although I am not sure I would stay to watch (not a fan of horror movies either, lol). Did see a rather large gator terrorizing a leather deck shoe for several hours last summer. Not sure what happened to the owner of the shoe, but the gator was at a water hazard on a local golf course. Mr. Gator was finally relocated as he disrupted too many golfers. Not much chance of your gator being relocated for lowering the raccoon population.
Although I do feel bad for the raccoon, they are literally all over the place around here, lots to go around. Initially, I thought the boy had an otter and that would have been awful because we don’t have any of those to spare.
Speaking of alligators and shoes… check out these posts you may have missed. 🙂
https://phillanoue.com/2013/10/03/unintended-consequences/
https://phillanoue.com/2012/06/14/crocs-3/
What amazing shots, wow! I’ve never seen a gator nab a raccoon… He’ll definitely have it tomorrow!
I was going to go over this morning to see if he was still dragging that poor raccoon around but didn’t make it.
Well I know somebody will get their tasty meal.
The food chain is sometimes hard for me to watch. At least Rocky was already dead.
Yes nature can appear cruel at times, but so it goes with the food chain as you say.
It’s also possible the alligator found an already dead raccoon and conveniently picked it up. They are opportunists.
Another great sequence (not for the poor raccoon though…). RH
No, definitely not a good day for our little raccoon friend. Thanks for looking!
I took one look and went urgh! Thea took one look and said “Oh, it looks as if it is playing yoyo!” The food chain thing again!
I would love to be there to hear Thea make these comments, it brightens my day! I would also be happy to take her along on a personal alligator tour, I reckon she would love it. Thanks to you all!
Great captures. It is a part of life which we as humans don’t like to look at but we do kill animals to eat too – just in a different way.
That is true, it is kind of the circle of life. Often one creature will die to feed another.
Una sequenza stupenda Phil, ma da brivido. Povero procione, però questa è la legge della natura….
Pat
Grazie Pat!
Wow Phil! Extraordinary set of images!!
Thanks very much for looking and commenting. It was quite a sight!
Incredible shots of this dramatic action, Phil! Poor raccoon, but, alas, the cycle of life….
I do feel bad for the poor raccoon but so it goes in nature.
Great shots and such an interesting thing to see. It must be very unusual for a large predator to catch something and not know how to eat it. Him falling asleep with prey in his mouth is just too funny.
He was flinging that poor raccoon all over the place presumably trying to tear it up into smaller bite size pieces. I don’t know if the gator got tired or what but he did take a brief nap with the raccoon still firmly clenched in his jaws. It was pretty funny (well not for the raccoon) but whadaya gonna do?
Wow that is intense photography, I do love your work and I have added you to my page of inspirational photographers. Enjoy your work Phil.
Thanks a million for the kind words Jim! I’m really happy you enjoy the photos!
Great action pictures! Nice catch, both for you and the alligator I guess:)
Yeah I know what you mean. He seemed happy with his catch I guess, but also a little confused.
Oh well, thanks for stopping by and glad you liked these pics!
Maybe a bit heary to get down? 🙂
Life itself