One of Florida’s infamously aggressive sandhill cranes has actually accomplished “gangster” status on social networks, after it was tape-recorded sending out an 8-foot alligator running for the nearby body of water.
The scene played out Friday, March 10, in between 2 area ponds in Sarasota and was captured on video by Laura Akin.
It reveals the alligator was of a mind to leave the water when it experienced a challenging sandhill crane, with its wings spread out in defiance.
The alligator wasn’t daunted — a minimum of in the beginning — and is seen crawling to within a couple of feet of the crane and plopping down in the turf.
That’s when things got uncomfortable. The 2 spend the next minute glaring at each other, neither pulling back nor moving on.
Then, as if reacting to some whispered threat, the alligator suddenly turns and dives back into the water.
“I was spellbound. My heart was racing a bit and I had no idea what to expect. Since I was as close as 40 feet from the action, I was glad the gator took off in the other direction,” Akin told McClatchy News.
“I know what bullies sandhill cranes are. I don’t understand if you’ve ever seen one (sandhill crane) cross the roadway, however they roam.”
Her video has actually gotten almost 1,000 responses and remarks considering that being shared March 14 with several Facebook groups, consisting of the 152,000 members of Unseen Florida.
“Those cranes are gangster,” Paul Blohm composed on her post.
“Gator’s bout to get jumped,” Kristy Ausbourne composed.
“Sandhill cranes will run your vehicle off the road,” Chris Woods said.
“I am honestly more afraid of sandhill cranes than I am of gators. They are crazy,” Stephanie Jinar Kelly said.
Sandhill cranes grow to nearly 4 feet and have a wing period of 6 and a half feet, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “In rare instances, cranes have been reported pecking people,” the state says.
Sarasota has to do with 60 miles south of Tampa.
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