There’s no being on this planet that’s packed with more stupidity and less fear than the creature known as the Florida Man.
And this video out of the Sunshine State is about as “Florida Man” as it gets. You have to be on another level of delusion to think that it would be funny to sneak up on a resting alligator in order to scare it. But leave it to a man in Florida to swim under water towards a gator in Everglades National Park just for “the meme.”
Unless this guy had a permit (and I’ve got a good feeling that he doesn’t), he could get into serious trouble for harassing wildlife. Alligators are a protected species at both the state and federal level, so sneaking up to one and trying to scare it is both foolish and potentially illegal.
The Everglades National Park also has a distinct set of rules that prohibits visitors from doing many of the things that the guy in this video ended up doing. Visitors aren’t supposed to stray from designated trails, should refrain from entering any area where there is an alligator or any alligator activity, and though this part should be common sense, visitors shouldn’t swim with alligators.
Maybe this guy saw all of those rules and asked, “What could I do so that I break all of the guidelines simultaneously?” And the answer to that question ended up being what played out below:
Notice that the guy did this in front of a kid too. What an example he’s setting for the Florida youth!
This is just a situation where there is so much that could have gone wrong. What if the gator would have snapped right towards him and attacked? Or how about a bigger gator nearby jumping into the mix to protect the smaller one that was sitting just out of the water?
It’s those kinds of thoughts that led much of the comment section to eviscerate the Florida man:
“I was hoping there was another animal hiding nearby this touron did not see and he got the scare of his life…what an a- hole.”
“Nothing fills me with contempt quite like morons who terrorize wildlife.”
“What is wrong with him?”
“Florida Man in his natural environment.”
“Karma is a funny thing. May one day something bigger than him surprise him in the same manner!”