Turtle hitches ride on alligator in pond, photo shows. ‘Just another day in Florida’

A photographer and travel blogger was walking near a private pond in Tampa when he looked up to see something that he said could only be witnessed in Florida.

It was a turtle standing on the back of an alligator’s head as it swam across the pond on April 17.

The photographer, Jef Henninger, who runs the blog Traveling with Jef, snapped a photo on his phone and shared it on Facebook April 17.

“I was just like, ‘This turtle thinks the alligator’s a horse and was riding it around the pond,’” he told McClatchy News. “It was pretty ridiculous.”

Turtles are part of an alligator’s diet, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, but this turtle was clearly not afraid, Henninger said.

As a wildlife photographer, he said he witnesses lots of unique animal moments. But sights like these make him especially grateful to be in the Sunshine State, where oddities abound.

“You really can’t see stuff like this anywhere else,” he said.

There are an estimated 1.3 million alligators in Florida, according to the state wildlife commission, and the reptiles are often making headlines for stopping traffic, hanging out near stores or chilling in people’s driveways.

But an image like this of predator and prey seeming to live in harmony is special, particularly for people living in other parts of the country, he said.

“Some people are shocked,” he said of those who reacted to his photo. “If you live outside Florida, you’re like, ‘Wow, that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.’”

Most Floridians, though, had a different reaction when they saw the picture, he said.

“If you live here it’s like, ‘Just another day in Florida,’” he said.

This story was originally published April 21, 2023 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Turtle hitches ride on alligator in pond, photo shows. ‘Just another day in Florida’."