Florida man appears to feed alligator a sandwich in viral video
A video going viral on social media appears to show a Florida man hand-feeding an alligator a sandwich while sitting chest-deep in the water.
The video was posted to Instagram by @onlyinfloridaa this week and has already racked up over 25,000 likes.
"Florida man is gonna Florida man," the caption to the video reads.
The clip shows a man wearing a white hat and a woman in a red shirt sitting in the water waving a piece of bread as the alligator swims closer. He then drops the food in the gator's mouth and gives it a little pat under the mouth before it swims away. The man then appears to toss another piece of food at the gator to try and feed it again.
The video sparked over 1,000 comments from viewers with some strong opinions.
- "They’re setting other people up to lose their lives. They associate us with food and are no longer scared" – @thyme4.tea
- "Everyone be like "they’re gonna associate people with food". Alligators be like "they are food and some come with appetizers" – @the_robgreco
- "I'm more concerned about that water they’re sitting in" – @laceynj
- "It only wanted the snack, not the full meal. Lucky for him," – @aaf_23
The video was credited to @daddyog1, whose TikTok account is filled with clips of airboat adventures and close encounters with alligators. As of now, it is unclear when and where the video was taken.
According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, feeding wild alligators is illegal in Florida.
"When fed, alligators can lose their natural wariness and instead learn to associate people with the availability of food," FWC says. "This can lead to dangerous circumstances for yourself and other people who could encounter the alligator in the future."
Alligator mating season typically occurs between May and June, but courtship usually begins in early April, according to FWC.