The Hunted and the Hunter (hey Zackiedawg, get a kick out of this)

Caught this during my last trip to SWSA. ; Considering what happens in the wild between these two.....

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That's like sneaking up to a sleeping polar bear and getting on his back for a nap. ; The prey shouldn't be sleeping on the predator!

I guess the captive alligators haven't been informed by their wild cousins what's supposed to be on the menu - they're used to getting a side of pork or a chicken or two thrown at them each day, so Mr. soup-in-a-shell there can get away with his perch.

 

That's quite true. ; They can go for quite a while without a meal, and one good sized meal can hold them for a month.

And yes, even in the wild, these two can live in close proximity. ; Though I posted last month the gator eating a turtle, I've also taken pics fully in the wild with turtles nested up well within striking range of some extremely large gators:



What's amazing too is to watch how ballsy the mother birds will be when the gators get close to their nests...they'll stomp and squawk and draw the alligator's attention as they walk away from their nest area to save their eggs or chicks. ; Having seen how quickly gators can strike, these birds are seriously in danger, but do what they feel is necessary for the survival of their offspring: