Alligator v Python: One beast enters — two beasts die

Look at the picture above.

What do you see?

Recently discovered in the Florida Everglades was the tableau above, a horror movie come to real life — and death.

A 13–foot–long Burmese python burst after it tried to swallow a live 6–foot–long alligator.

The snake was found with the gator's hindquarters protruding from its mid–section.

The latest alligator–python encounter is the fourth documented in the past three years.

The Burmese python, as its name might indicate, is not native to the Everglades but rather has established a foothold there as many pet owners have simply abandoned their growing, ever–more threatening snakes there.

University of Florida professor Frank Mazzotti says the alligator might have been clawing at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it.

An Associated Press story noted that "in previous incidents, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw."

Mazzotti continued, "There had been some hope that alligators can control Burmese pythons. This indicates to me it's going to be an even draw. Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the pythons will win."

And sometimes both will lose big, as happened in the instance pictured up top.