Sandra Rayman Harrison was at the Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee, Florida when she spotted an alligator with a football wedged in its mouth.
Sandra took a photo of the gator and posted it to Facebook with concerns about the reptile’s safety. The photo sparked a great debate between the commenters on whether the gator was trying to eat the ball or if it was attempting to try out for the football team.
“Maybe he wants to play for the Florida Gators,” wrote one commenter. “Seriously though, does anyone know how this turned out? It looks like he could chomp that ball.”
“He didn’t know it’s a football, thought he scored an easy meal of turtle,” said another viewer.
“Florida Gators looking for new quarterback?”
Some even had concerns that maybe the ball was actually stuck in the gator’s mouth and that it couldn’t get it out and could potentially die from the situation.
According to the Miami Herald, Sandra said, “My concern is that somehow the football was wedged in such a way that the gator could not apply pressure to pop it. The concern was also if the ball did pop, would it get lodged and kill the gator?”
Sandra posted the photo on March 11 in hopes that someone would know if the gator was ever rescued from its predicament or if it got the ball out of its mouth on its own.
What’s interesting though is Sean Kelley posted a photo back on January 8 of an alligator at Big Cypress National Preserve holding a football in its mouth in the exact same spot.
It surely makes one curious if that is the same gator with the football or if it was a different gator carrying it around now.
Sean later posted another photo to Facebook on March 21 showing the chewed-up football was eventually let go by the reptile.