A hungry crocodile wanted to ambush a pelican in the Everglades. His technique needs work
A crocodile’s attempt to ambush a brown pelican was recorded at Everglades National Park — and the outcome might have you questioning the apex predator’s hunting prowess.
The video shows the large crocodile slowly rising out of the water, its eyes set on the brown pelican resting on a log above it.
The pelican doesn’t move. The croc pauses. Then, the large reptile goes for the kill — and somehow misses.
“Sorry croc, better luck next time! If it’s any consolation, we all have that one that got away,” Everglades National Park joked on Instagram Thursday. “As for this Brown Pelican, congrats! You live to see another day.”
If the video has you questioning the bird’s eyesight and the crocodile’s lazy attempt of finding breakfast, you’re not alone.
Instagram users grilled the animals hard:
“Worst, laziest, ambush ever.”
“Dude has to work on its technique.”
“Wow! That is one lazy? Brave? cocky pelican. I would like to be that chill.”
Fishing guide Benny Blanco, who recorded the encounter, said there’s more to the story.
The crocodile, which Blanco said measures at least 12 feet nose to tail, had stalked the bird for about 15 minutes before making its move. You could tell the bird knew it too, he said.
So, was the pelican playing chicken?
Blanco thinks it had more to do with the weather.
“I think he was waiting for the last minute because he didn’t want to move either,” he said. “It was so cold that morning, I don’t think anybody wanted to move.”
The video, which has garnered more than 16,000 views since it was posted Thursday on the park’s Instagram page, was actually a throwback to one of Blanco’s guided tours in Cape Sable last January.
He said many of the Everglades fishing guides rely on social media to find customers and they were hoping the video would attract people to visit the park during the holiday season.
“Every winter I like to share the winter time videos that we have ... so people can see that just outside of this huge metropolitan city, you have these amazing wild things that happen as Mother Nature intended for them to happen,” Blanco said.
You also have a higher chance of seeing the crocodiles sunning along the banks when the temperatures drop, he said. The reptiles — like South Florida’s booming iguana population — can’t stand the cold and will try to warm up during the day.
It’s also why he thinks the “monstrous”-size crocodile moved so slow.
“The second he came out of the water, he was frozen,” Blanco said. “They can’t move real fast when they’re cold.”
Huh, sounds like a typical Floridian.
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 12:17 PM with the headline "A hungry crocodile wanted to ambush a pelican in the Everglades. His technique needs work."
