Alligator gets help crossing road from unexpected feathery friends. See Florida video
Florida wildlife is full of surprises.
This was on full display for one Hernando County woman when she started to record a small alligator off the side of the road.
Shannon Duke told WOFL she was on Pine Island when she saw Sandhill cranes come close to the small gator, and she thought the predator might go after them.
She told the outlet the cranes were bothering the alligator, and “after a short bit, the gator made its move and you see the rest.”
Instead of going in for a kill, the alligator moves toward the road and the cranes walk alongside, providing a feathery escort.
Duke posted the video on the Alligators of Florida Facebook page on Aug. 19.
“Never thought I’d witness this! Only in Florida!” she wrote in the caption.
“Crossing guard!” one person wrote in the comments.
“Friends come in all shapes and sizes,” another wrote.
While alligators are opportunistic hunters, crocodilian enrichment coordinator for Gatorland Savannah Boan told WOFL in March they don’t often attack or feed on cranes.
A video circulated on social media and showed a large sandhill crane scaring an alligator back into the water of a Florida golf course, McClatchy News previously reported.
“Sandhill cranes don’t get afraid very easily, but what a Sandhill crane has is a secret weapon against alligators. Alligators are naturally afraid of humans, so what do I look like if I do this? I look like a big ole human,” Boan told WOFL.
Pine Island is an unincorporated part of Hernando County, about 60 miles north of Tampa.
This story was originally published August 31, 2023 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Alligator gets help crossing road from unexpected feathery friends. See Florida video."
