Photos capture desperate struggle between hungry alligator and lucky turtle in SC

The middle of the food chain is no place for quitters, South Carolina photos show.

Jeff Becton recently captured a life or death struggle between a hungry alligator and a desperate turtle locked in its toothy jaws, pulling, squirming and straining to escape.

“It was definitely putting up a fight,” Becton told McClatchy News. “I would probably be doing the same thing.”

Becton took up wildlife photography during the early days of the pandemic, and the hobby has since developed into a full-blown passion.

He set out to the Caw Caw Interpretive Center park near Charleston early in the morning in late June, hoping to find some snakes to snap photos of. Instead, he came across a mother alligator and her hatchlings gathered just a few feet away from the trail.

As he watched, Becton noticed something else moving in the green muck -- a turtle. Either the alligator was too well-hidden or the turtle wasn’t particularly impressed, because it kept moving closer and closer.

“It walked right in front of that alligator and she just jumped right on top of it,” Becton said.

The gator clamped shut on its prey, but instead of the audible crunch of a snapping shell, there was silence.

“The turtle was so big I don’t think the alligator could actually press down hard enough to do any damage to it,” Becton said.

Determined to break through to the soft, chewy center, the alligator kept up the immense pressure, treating the turtle like a swampy jawbreaker.

“It was so weird because the alligator didn’t make any noise and the turtle didn’t make any noise,” Becton said. “It was like a silent battle.”

This went on for about five minutes, Becton said. And then there was an opening.

“Finally it escaped. Just kind of squirted out and went into the muck,” he said. The turtle disappeared and then Becton spotted its head peak out from the surface a few moments later.

It lived to be eaten another day, Becton said. He was rooting for the lucky critter, he admits.

This story was originally published July 4, 2021 at 8:23 AM with the headline "Photos capture desperate struggle between hungry alligator and lucky turtle in SC."