Graphic video captures 11-foot alligator and snapping turtle squaring off in NC swamp

Snapping turtles get their name from aggressively biting things, but one clearly picked the wrong victim Friday at The Swamp Park near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.

Video recorded by the adventure park shows a very angry 11-foot alligator not only bit the turtle back, but proceeded to fling it around like a rag doll.

At several points, the angry gator seems to almost jump out of the water as it bites at the large turtle’s tough shell.

“Likely the turtle was swimming in the pond and nipped at the gator. Didn’t end well,” officials at The Swamp Park told McClatchy News. “The gators are still in their spring feisty state. You can hear the gator bellowing (in the video). Very cool.”

The Swamp Park is an alligator sanctuary that is home to about 10 American Alligators. Many were confiscated from humans or trapped in populated areas, then brought to The Swamp Park to live out their life in the wild, including one that is 50 years old, according to the park’s website.

Because it’s a swamp, other wildlife occasionally wanders too close and ends up eaten by the alligators.

Snapping turtles are known to grow to 20 inches in length and 35 pounds in North Carolina, state biologists say. The largest on record in the state weighed 61 pounds, according to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

“Large snappers can be very dangerous if handled carelessly; their powerful, sharp-edged jaws can inflict considerable injury upon a carelessly placed hand or foot,” the commission reports.

“When closely approached on land, a snapping turtle often elevates its hindquarters, gapes its jaws and then suddenly lunges with a snakelike strike at the offending object,” the commission says.

This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Graphic video captures 11-foot alligator and snapping turtle squaring off in NC swamp."