People are flooding to social media in horror after seeing footage of an alligator surging out of the water with no warning... at all.
There's a reason I live in the UK. It may rain all the time and when we do get a surge of summer, we may complain it, 'Might actually be too hot,' but at least when we decide to go for a paddle, there's no chance of us being half-munched by any humongous, deadly animals.
A TikToker from Florida shared a video exemplifying why you have to be 'really careful about [your] surroundings' while in the Southeastern region of the United States.
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Prepare to jerk back from your phone:
In the video, shared by TikTok user @comfyyyguy_17, the Floridian can be heard explaining why you have to be so careful around areas of water.
He says: "The water looks like nothing, but then, out of nowhere..."
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The TikToker then drops a stick into the water beneath him and like a good dog playing fetch, an alligator pounces, breaking up from underneath the surface to grab it - like a horrible magic trick reversed, not there one second and then very much there the next.
"Yeah, a gator can just jump out at you," the TikToker adds. "Be safe."
The video has since gone viral on the platform, amassing over 700,000 likes and 20,000 shares.
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People have flocked to the clip in shock over the gator seemingly appearing out of nowhere, completely undetectable in the water until it breaks the surface - not a single bubble, ripple, change in colour or reflection in the water as it passes under, giving no warning signs it's coming at all.
One TikTok user said: "I've watched (enter a large numerical figure) amount of times AND still don't see the gator."
"I watched that over and over again and still never can find the gator," another echoed.
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A third user said: "Watched this 100x, still can't see where the gator was."
"It's crazy how he was prob 2-3 inches below the surface and you can't even see him," a fourth added.
The TikToker replied: "Like the camouflage is insane."
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Other users, and fellow Floridians, warned about going too close to any area of water in the state.
A user said: "Am Floridian, can confirm that if there is even so much as a puddle, there will probably be a gator in it."
"In Florida, you just don't go in the water, EVER!" a second warned.
And a final resolved: "In FL never go into the sweet tea colored water unless you're ready to throw hands with a dinosaur."
Topics: Animals, Social Media, TikTok, Viral, US News
Poppy Bilderbeck