Exploding snake

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There has been one documented case of an exploding snake, whereby a Burmese python burst. The 13-foot (4 meter) snake had swallowed a 6-foot (1.8 meter) alligator whole. Rangers of the Everglades National Park discovered the carcasses in October 2005, but they could not locate the snake's head. Frank Mazzotti, a professor from the University of Florida, suggested that the alligator had tried to claw its way out of the snake. Alternative theories suggest the alligator could have already been dead, or a third animal was involved.

An urban-legend website, Snopes, suggests that after ingesting the alligator, the snake was possibly cut open and beheaded by another individual (either a human or another predator). Snopes also proposes that a gas build-up caused by the decompsing alligator could have ruptured the snake's body, and that its head was eaten by scavengers.

The incident was noted as a sign that alligators' supremacy as a predator is not a certainty in the wild. Mazzotti also noted that a human discovery of such a battle between these predators was rare.

The incident was part of a "python epidemic" in which pet owners released their pythons throughout Florida, in belief that they would not cause trouble. At least 93 pythons were captured, not including the one involved in this incident. This "python epidemic" continues presently.