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Alligator, python wrestle on Fiddler's Creek golf course near Naples

A Burmese python and a Florida alligator were seen wrestling on the ground at Fiddler's Creek Golf Club southeast of Naples on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018.

It was a tense situation between a Burmese python and a Florida alligator at a golf course southeast of Naples.

The two large reptiles were wrestling on the ground at Fiddler's Creek Golf Club on Jan. 12 when they were seen by several golfers, including Dr. Richard Nadler, who was surprised by the sight as he was golfing with friends.

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Nadler had never seen anything like it: an alligator, a native species in Florida, and the python, an invasive species, wrapped around each other.

A Burmese python and a Florida alligator were seen wrestling on the ground at Fiddler's Creek Golf Club in East Naples on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018.

He took a few pictures and went on to the next hole, later posting the photos on Facebook.

" 'Wild' day on the 10th hole today! That’s an alligator and a Burmese python entwined. The alligator seems to have the upper hand," Nadler wrote on the Facebook post.

He didn’t expect to get so many emails and phone calls trying to reach him about what he saw.

"It absolutely exploded,” Nadler said.

It’s unclear whether the python or the alligator won the fight.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Sarah Lessard said either the alligator or the python could have ended up the prey. 

Conservation Commission biologists were not able to visit the site or investigate what might have been the outcome, Lessard said.

"However, we are encouraged by the prospect of a native Florida alligator consuming an invasive Burmese python," she said.

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Pythons, originally from Southeast Asia, are known to exist across South Florida, and scientists say they are reducing populations of native species, especially the small mammals so many native Florida predators rely on. 

Last January, for example, a Palm Beach Post reporter recorded video of another python-alligator encounter at Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee.

How to report sightings of pythons and other invasive species:

  • FWC’s Exotic Species Hotline: 888-IveGot1 (888-483-4861)
  • Online: Ivegot1.org
A Burmese python and a Florida alligator were seen wrestling on the ground at Fiddler's Creek Golf Club southeast of Naples on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018.