Florida alligator seemingly eats smaller alligator in rare wildlife encounter: 'It's crazy'

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An Orlando Wetlands Park visitor snapped a series of rare photos of an adult alligator eating what appears to be a smaller alligator.

Barbara D'Angelo, a retired "snowbird" who lives in Florida during the winter and Michigan in the summer, photographed a large alligator swallowing a significantly smaller reptile in a swampy environment on March 6, she said.

"I was looking westerly when I heard a splash behind me and saw a large alligator with something large in his mouth," D'Angelo told Fox News Digital. "I thought it was a duck at first because they are mostly dark."

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D'Angelo said this encounter isn’t the first time she’s seen an animal eating another animal since she often visits the wetlands for bird watching. 

This time, however, she made sure to capture photos of an alligator eating a smaller reptile.

Barbara D'Angelo, a part-time Florida resident, photographed an adult alligator eating what appears to be a smaller alligator or similar reptile on March 6, 2023. (Barbara D'Angelo)

"I was shaking through all of this but [I] was up on the roadway a good distance and felt safe enough," D'Angelo, who is originally from Miami, went on. 

"I pass at least 10 to 15 alligators as I walk a nature trail through the wetlands. They are everywhere."

She continued, "Usually, they are just sleeping on the shoreline. Alligators are very temperature oriented. When they need to cool down, they will crawl out of the water and just sleep right there. This evening, [it] was not a sleeping alligator."

"I was shaking through all of this."

D'Angelo shared photos of what she witnessed on Facebook in the Orlando Wetlands Park group, which is open to the public.

The wildlife encounter lasted for about two minutes, according to D'Angelo.

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"I was leaving the wetlands as it was late, and I caught this interaction," D'Angelo wrote in her Facebook post on March 12. 

"I thought it was an alligator eating another alligator," D'Angelo continued. 

"After posting on another site, someone thought it might be a tegu lizard. Since I never saw the head of this victim, I can't be so sure."

Some internet users have theorized that the predatory alligator Barbara D'Angelo witnessed at Orlando Wetlands Park might have been eating a tegu lizard or another reptile. (Barbara D'Angelo)

In a follow-up post that D'Angelo shared on March 15, she wrote that how she managed to snap about 35 photos of the encounter, but some appear "blurry" and "muddy."

"I watched as this gator had his prey in his mouth and slammed the remaining body and tail like a whip. This he did at least three times," D'Angelo wrote. "I'm trying to show the less violent shots. The last one is how I left the scene. His victim was folded in thirds. If you can see the gator's eyes clearly, he had his eye on me the whole time!"

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Both of D'Angelo’s Facebook posts have generated over 680 reactions, over 155 shares and over 135 comments on the social media site.

Facebook users appeared to be amazed by the moment, though many were split on whether the alligator’s prey was a small gator or an invasive tegu lizard, which originally hails from Argentina.

"We’ve seen that happen at the wetlands before — gator eating another gator," one Facebook commenter wrote. "It’s crazy — some said it was probably a territorial dispute."

Barbara D'Angelo isn't completely certain if the alligator she saw in Orlando Wetlands Park was eating a smaller alligator, but she thinks it's likely that the mystery animal was a fellow gator. (Barbara D'Angelo)

"Looks like a monitor lizard," another user theorized.

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"Scary show of predatory power! Yikes," another Facebook commenter added.

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) defines bull alligators as measuring over nine feet in length.

Barbara D'Angelo confirmed to Fox News Digital that the smaller reptile didn't survive the encounter. (Barbara D'Angelo)

Large and fully grown American alligators have been observed eating alligator eggs, juvenile alligators, subadult alligators and smaller adult alligators, according to the wildlife agency.

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"Alligators are opportunistic feeders," the FWC wrote in an Alligator Facts profile webpage. "Their diets include prey species that are abundant and easily accessible."