{{afd-mergeto|#REDIRECT [[Exploding animal|Exploding snake (2nd nomination)|19 March 2009}}]]
In October 2005, rangers in the [[Everglades National Park]] discovered the carcass of a 6-foot (1.8 meter) [[alligator]] protruding from the burst carcass of 13-foot (4 meter) [[Burmese python]]. The rangers could not locate the snake's head. Frank Mazzotti, a professor from the [[University of Florida]], suggested that the alligator had tried to claw its way out of the snake while the snake tried to swallow it whole. Alternative hypotheses suggest the alligator could have already been dead, or a third animal was involved. The incident was noted as a sign that alligators' supremacy as a predator is not a certainty in the wild. Mazzotti also noted that a human discovery of such a battle between these predators was rare.
An [[urban legend]] [[website]], [[Snopes]], suggests that after ingesting the alligator, the snake was possibly cut open and beheaded by another individual (either a human or another predator). Snopes also proposes that a gas build-up caused by the decomposing alligator could have ruptured the snake's body, and that its head was eaten by scavengers.
The news report highlighted the concern held by wildlife biologists that the Burmese Python might [[Invasive species|spread across the Southern United States]], where it finds a suitable climate, and become prohibitively expensive or wholly impossible to eradicate. This would threaten native ecosystems and vulnerable species. Breeding populations from escaped specimens or specimens released by overwhelmed owners are found already in the Everglades, the [[Big Cypress]] and on [[Key Largo]].<ref>[http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1875 USGS website]</ref>
* [http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/snakegator.asp Who's Saurian Now?: Photograph shows a snake that burst trying to eat an alligator] (Snopes.com)
* [http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=456&sid=636160 Python Bursts After Trying to Eat Gator] (AP, via WTOPNews.com)
