Fla. Man Spots Snake Riding on Alligator’s Back to Stay Dry: 'This Is the Most Florida Thing'

Mar. 15, 2025

A Florida snake has found a creative way to stay dry!

According toUPI, a man from Florida was searching for invasive pythons in the Big Cypress National Preserve when he discovered a snake catching a ride through the preserve’s wet cypress forests on the back of an alligator swimming through the water.

In the clip, a tiny snake rests on the alligator, near the larger reptile’s face, as the creatures move through the water.

“This is the most Florida thing you will ever see,” Ruiz adds in the video, according to the outlets.

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Ruiz was reportedly taking part in the Florida Python Challenge when he made the discovery.

During the multi-day annual event, contestants compete to remove the most invasive pythons from Florida’s wild areas. The individual who wrangles the most pythons wins $10,000. The goal is tocurb the growing Burmese python populationin Florida. The invasive snakes pose a severe threat to the state’s native flora and fauna.

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According to a news release from theFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, this year’s Florida Python Challenge began on Friday, Aug. 9, and will end on Sunday, Aug. 18.

“Alligator Ron” Bergeron, a governing board member of the South Florida Water Management District, said in a statement that the challenge “is a great way to get the public involved in understanding the unique Everglades ecosystem.”

“Removing invasive pythons from across the Greater Everglades Ecosystem is critical, and we must do everything we can to combat this invasive species,” Bergeron added.

According to the FWC, Burmese pythons “are found primarily in and around the Everglades ecosystem in south Florida.”

Female pythons can lay between 50 and 100 eggs at a time, making the snake species’s population challenging to control.

source: people.com