Massive Alligator Devours Smaller Gator in Viral Video from a South Carolina Backyard

A massive alligator was captured on film devouring a smaller gator in South Carolina.

In a video originally posted on Twitter by South Carolina resident Taylor Soper and later reposted by NowThis and other outlets, the hungry reptile holds a smaller alligator in its jaws before chomping down on the animal, thrashing its head.

The harrowing sight took place in a pond in Soper's parents' backyard, he explained on Twitter.

"This happened in my parents backyard today… The snack is a 6ft gator," Soper wrote.

Before the smaller of the two gators met its untimely fate, the slain creature had also eaten an alligator, Soper shared.

"The small one getting eaten... was eating an even smaller one last week!" Soper wrote on Facebook.

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Soper's post quickly went viral, prompting shocked reactions from social media users. While the video baffled viewers, experts say cannibalism in alligators is not rare.

According to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, the animals "will eat almost anything, including each other; they bite and fight to eat, court, defend, or protect their territory."

The department also states that gators will feed on "basically anything that can't eat them first," including "larger animals such as muskrats, nutria, beavers, raccoons, large birds and fish, snakes, turtles, and deer."

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While Soper reported that the smaller alligator in the video was six feet long, some alligators can grow larger than 14 feet long, the record for Florida's largest gator, according to the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

A similar alligator interaction went viral years ago in 2016, when a video shot in Florida made the rounds online. In the clip, which was recorded at Circle B Bar Reserve, a large alligator — estimated to be about 12 feet long — gobbles down a smaller one.

"It's typical alligator behavior," Florida Fish & Wildlife officer Gary More told Tampa's Fox 13 at the time. "They are cannibalistic at times."