Alligator and vultures go nose-to-nose over a carcass in Florida marsh, video shows
A standoff between an alligator and a wake of hungry vultures was caught on video in a Florida marsh, and at the center of it was a dead turtle prime for the eating.
It happened Sunday, Feb. 20, at the 1,267-acre Circle B Bar Reserve near Lakeland, and Jesse Mckelvey told McClatchy News it began when he and his girlfriend, Abby, saw a large alligator pop out of the marsh. The site is about 35 miles east of Tampa.
“As we watched, the gator crossed to the other body of water on the opposite side of the trail and began swimming towards the group of vultures,” Mckelvey said.
“He immediately went for the soft shell (turtle) and stared them in the eyes as he took the dead soft shell into his mouth.”
The vultures refused to retreat, however, resulting in an awkward standoff as the 12- to 13-foot alligator struggled to fit the large shell into its mouth.
Mckelvey recorded five videos, and some show vultures gathered the courage to try to snatch the turtle as the alligator chewed. But they just as quickly retreated, when the gator dropped the turtle and tried to eat them instead.
Loud crunches are eventually heard in the video, as the alligator grips the dead turtle in its jaws and begins slinging it around— splashing water on the birds in the process.
“He swallows a piece and just stares the vultures down,” McKelvey said. “I was so shocked to finally catch this on film. I’ve seen it happen at the reserve multiple times, but never got it on film. It was pure awesomeness.”
The standoff lasted about 20 minutes, including some time the alligator spent looking for parts of the turtle it lost in the water, he said.
Circle B Bar Reserve is a former Polk County ranch-turned-nature preserve, and it is known for having a population of large alligators in and around Lake Hancock, according to Polknature.com.
Among its trails is one called Alligator Alley “that gives you a feeling of ‘walking on water’ through the swamp.”
Mckelvey, who lives in Lakeland, says the alligator involved in the vulture dispute wasn’t the biggest one he saw that day.
“A lot were just sun bathing and not moving,” he wrote on Facebook.
“They are pretty used to people being around them all day. As long as your smart and don’t mess with them they don’t care that you are there.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 8:21 AM with the headline "Alligator and vultures go nose-to-nose over a carcass in Florida marsh, video shows."