June 26 (UPI) — A mother alligator in Florida chased off a man who got too close her young, while attempting to take a photograph.
Ben Boukari Jr. shared video as the defensive alligator lunged toward the daring photographer near the boardwalk of La Chua Trail at Paynes Prairie in Gainesville.
“Guy is way too close!” Boukari Jr. wrote on Facebook. “Everyone else around this video is on a boardwalk above the gator in a safe location.”
The sunbathing gator can be seen quickly sprinting form the edge of the water to snap its jaws around a tripod the man placed on the grassy slope.
After hopping behind a small bush, the man slowly backed away and continued to capture images of the gator using his phone’s camera.
Eventually the gator made its way back into the water, but lunged at the man once again when he attempted to go back and collect the bag that contained his camera.
Despite the second close encounter, the man continued to film the gator on his cellphone while backing away to a safer area.
Gainesville’s tourism site encourages visitors to Paynes Prarie to keep their distance and avoid feeding the alligators to prevent similar situations.
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