Published 17:12 IST, July 17th 2020
Man receives 'warm welcome from wildlife' as an alligator knocks over his Kayak; Watch
An Alligator was caught on camera as it charged at a kayak. The man puddling the kayak falls down in the water in his encounter with the reptile. Watch
An encounter with a wild predator can be heart-wrenching. Alligators are one of the most dangerous predators in the water. Recently, a video surfaced online where a kayaker got hit by an alligator. The video has now gone viral on the internet. Read to know more about this incident-
Kayak hit by an alligator
Peter Joyce, an experienced kayaker, uploaded a video of his encounter with an alligator. In the video, he is seen paddling in a swampy area of the Waccamaw River, North Carolina. The 2:01 minute video has him paddling swiftly and exploring the place. He takes a few second halts and then moves ahead again. As he goes further slowly, he suddenly gets slammed by an alligator from his left side.
The Kayak flips over with force and Joyce is seen in water for a moment. However, he gets back up as soon as possible, and the kayak does not get turned over. The Kayaker takes a few seconds to fathom what happened and then starts to paddle back rapidly. Peter Joyce uploaded the video on YouTube and wrote, “While paddling the upper Waccamaw in N.C. I received a warm welcome from the wildlife.” Check out the video below. You can watch the video in slow motion, reducing the speed in playback speed option, to see the alligator’s attack.
The video soon became viral on the internet. A user commented, “That must have been the longest couple of seconds under water of your life!” Another user comment read, “I don’t think I have ever seen a alligator attacks like that. Almost looked like it was hydroplaning on top of the water before it hits the boat.” A user found the kayaker “lucky” stating that it was not a “full size” gator. The video has crossed 1 million views within five days of it being uploaded on YouTube, with 1.5 k likes.
Peter Joyce talked about his encounter with a daily. He said that he was just about to turn around when it came towards him. He stated that the video does not show how hard the impact was. The 46-year-old kayaker mentioned that the alligator hit the kayak so hard, he lost his balance and started to roll. Joyce added that the encounter did not end there, he felt the reptile under the kayak and hit it three times, hoping it would scare the alligator away as he climbed back in.
An alligator biologist with the North Caroline Wildlife Resource Commission, Alicia Davis expressed her views on the attack to a news agency. She said that it could have been a female that was trying to intimidate Peter Joyce. She mentioned that it may be a because they are a little bit aggressive around their nests. Davis stated that mostly they try to intimidate people if they get too close.
Updated 17:12 IST, July 17th 2020