An alligator in the Florida Everglades has consumed a drone. It’s not known if this is the first time it’s happened or just the first recorded instance. People who’ve watched the video (over 4.2 million times on TikTok) are worried about the gator’s health. Though the person who uploaded it says that the gator is doing fine.
The story goes that a group of friends were flying a drone trying to get a closer look at the creature. The gator bites the drone out of the air and consumes it. While biting through the battery, smoke comes out of the gator’s mouth causing quite a scene.
What’s worrisome is the smoke, likely from a chemical reaction when the battery acid hit the saliva. The gator may have suffered from chemical burns.
Comments for the video are now off. They were probably bombarded by people wanting to know if the gator was ok. The group has been reported to local authorities but there is currently no word on what’s going on with that. Many users wondered if they did this on purpose. Another person inquired if they were even in an area that allowed drones to be used.
Devhlanger says that this was all an accident and that the gator is doing fine. There has not yet been actual confirmation on that statement.
If the gator did consume the battery it could cause major health issues going forward for the animal. When ingested a battery can react with the saliva/gastric fluids. This can result in an electro-chemical reaction and can cause deep and extremely fast corrosion burns. Hopefully the gator was able to spit it out or let it go but if they did eat it they could be in for a hard time.
It’s better to just get a camera with a magnification lens then try to get as close as you can to animals in the wild.
