Naive Family Stands By Alligator To Take a Picture

Family vacations are perhaps some of the best memories we can have of our childhoods. And when you’re on vacation, it’s quite normal for moms to want to take 17,000 pictures. Okay, not really, but close enough. And when you’re touring a new area, everything is picture-worthy to tourists. However, this family goes a tad bit too far when they stop because they see an alligator. Don’t miss this unbelievable footage below.

Click The Crazy Video Below!

Alligator Spotted by Tourists in Florida

The Facebook video takes us to Florida, we assume, given the channel that reposted the video. The Everglades Holiday Park shared this viral video on their page. They share content from life in Florida that mainly has to deal with alligators at golf courses, rescued alligators, or gators sunbathing. It was posted last month in December, just before Christmas, and has already received more than one million views. 

Family Pictures Goes Wrong

As the video starts out, we see this family that looks like they are tourists given their level of excitement and what they are wearing. They are decked out in helmets for this bike ride. Likely to give their kids a bit of exercise and enjoyment of this Florida bike path. Suddenly, as they are biking, they notice a large alligator on the side of the path. 

Where these tourists might have been shocked to see an alligator, it’s not that unusual to see one in Florida. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, “Florida has a healthy and stable alligator population, which is estimated at 1.3 million alligators of every size.” 

We expect the mom to scream and horror and to see all of the kids scramble. However, they shock us all by standing around the alligator to take a picture! Reminder, this isn’t a zoo. This is actually in the wild. To say our minds are blown is putting it lightly. 

Why Do Alligators Leave Their Mouths Open?

As we can see from the video above, when the family passed by, this alligator had his enormous mouth open. The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) has 80 teeth. And where this might be taken as a sign of aggression, it is not. 

The Texas Parks and Wildlife government describes the action of leaving their mouths open as the following. “Often times a basking alligator may be seen with its mouth open; this is a way to cool its body temperature down, since alligators do not pant or sweat.”

However, even though this alligator was not acting aggressively toward this family, it does not mean he couldn’t have. Gators are wild animals that may react violently if they feel threatened. And an entire group of people getting close enough to touch an alligator would be grounds for them feeling threatened. This family is not only lucky but very fortunate this alligator did not attack. 

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock.com