‘Florida Uber’: See alligator hatchlings take a ride on Mom’s back in the Everglades
Awwww. How ... adorable?
Patience paid off for a photographer in Florida who managed to get up close to a large female alligator in the Everglades at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach County.
In video shared to Facebook’s “Frolic Florida” page on Monday, you can see the sizable reptile has her um, hands full, with a bunch of Mini-Me’s on her back.
“Mama gator takes her babies for a ride,” says the caption written by shutterbug Mark Andrew Thomas, who said he was filming for about two hours before the gator moved. “So grateful to have witnessed this awesome moment.”
At least five little ones jump around on Mom’s back as she deftly reverses in the water and retreats into the grass. Some buggers scamper off on their own and others cling on.
Many commenters were appreciative of the “awesome” nature footage, most of them saying how “precious” the wee reptiles were hopping around all over their mother.
“Cute little swamp kitties!” enthused one on the original post that appeared Sunday on the Facebook page, Alligators of Florida.
“Sometimes I wish I could be a baby gator just so I could experience this and go weeeeeeeeeeee.”
“Florida Uber.”
Yet others were curious how long the hatchlings stay that geographically close to their mother, and the answer is one to two years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey website.
After that, fun’s over and they can fend for themselves in the wild.
