A wild video of an alligator appearing to eat another, smaller alligator has gone viral on social media.
The video, which was posted on Twitter Thursday by Taylor Soper, shows a massive, dark green alligator with a smaller alligator in its mouth. Then, the larger alligator violently chomps down.
Soper confirmed to USA TODAY that his father took the video in Horry County, South Carolina on Thursday. He estimated on Twitter that the smaller of the creatures was 6 feet long.
Soper, who works in insurance, said his father was alone yesterday when he spotted the alligators, and he “grabbed the camera and started recording.”
He added that their family believes they saw the smaller alligator last weekend in a similar spot, but he was eating another, even smaller, alligator.
Soper said his father “was kind of shocked that it was happening again, let alone happening at all.”
“And I was absolutely blown away,” he said. “It’s a freaking dinosaur.”
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Social media users were also surprised by the footage. The video has garnered over two million views on Twitter and nearly 25,000 likes.
But one person was especially excited to see the video – Soper’s five-year-old son. The boy and Soper’s father enjoy watching alligators together, but usually from a safe distance with binoculars.
“I was just in shock and immediately showed my son. He’s five and just an alligator fanatic, so he went crazy over it,” Soper said.
He added that his father, who does not have social media accounts, was surprised that the footage went viral.
“He was like, ‘Holy smokes, never expected that to kind of take off the way it did,” Soper said. “He was just blown away by everything.”
Alligators are known to prey on nearly anything that is available, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries. That includes each other, and they often fight to eat, court, protect their territory and more.
The video shared this week is not the first time footage of an alligator eating another alligator has gone viral. In 2016, a man in Lakeland, Florida spotted a 10- to 12-foot alligator eating another one of the creatures.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Viral video shows alligator eating another alligator in South Carolina
