Later Gator

Did you hear the one about the fight between a snake and a gator? There was no winner. They were knotted up in a dead even tie!

No joke. Park rangers found a 12 foot python and 6 foot alligator dead in the Florida Everglades. Apparently, the python swallowed the gator whole after first weakening its prey with its tight grip. In the last dying breaths (or unvoluntary post-mortem spasms), the gator thrashed around inside until the python busted a gut. When discovered, both parties were dead and the gator's tail stuck out of the python.

An alternative hypothesis (heard on the radio, not included in the linked article) is that the python swallowed an already dead alligator. In the heat of the day, the decomposing gator exploded and ripped a hole in the snake's side.

Either way, isn't nature beautiful? It's survival of the fittest and both sides lost.

Finally, it shows how invasive non-native species can be. Think about it: Burmese python in Florida, Eurasian milfoil in Minnesota lakes, illegal immigrants Asian beetles in America, Muslims Germans in France (particularly in the early to mid 1900s). I could get in trouble for saying the crossed out portions, but you can fill in your own examples of invasive foreigners.