WATCH: Florida men try to enjoy round of golf; gator fight erupts

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Golf365
April 1, 2024

Golf often tries to fold itself into the environment in a seamless way.

When that environment is in Florida that means the golf course can witness some incredible scenes.

These players came across quite the scene on the fairways.

Alligators on the golf course in Florida aren’t something that the state’s golfing veterans will bat an eyelid at.

However, when the gators in question are going at it like WrestleMania, it does give one pause.

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Alligators impacted by golf course life

The Rosenblatt Lab at the University of North Florida has published research revealing that living on a golf course significantly alters alligator eating patterns.

According to the study, changes in land use can have a major impact on big predators’ eating preferences.

Changes in habitat and prey availability resulted in gators on golf courses having distinct feeding habits and access to various prey populations than those living in natural environments.

As a result, numerous situations, like exposure to human-made pollutants, may have an effect on the animals’ health and behaviour.

The researchers conducted their study on two neighbouring islands off Georgia’s southeast coast, focusing on the feeding habits of young gators from Jekyll Island, which has several golf courses and a high level of human activity, and Sapelo Island, which has no golf courses and much less human activity.

In addition to changing their dietary habits, the Jekyll Island gators consumed some strange foods, including canned corn, a kitten, a fishing lure and a cheeseburger with fries.

“We found that juvenile alligator populations on both islands ate the same types of prey but in vastly different quantities,” researchers wrote.

“Sapelo Island alligators primarily consumed crustaceans while alligators that lived on Jekyll Island’s golf courses ate mostly insects/arachnids. Furthermore, the Jekyll Island alligators exhibited a much more generalist feeding pattern (individuals mostly ate the same types of prey in the same quantities) than the more specialized Sapelo Island alligators (diets were more varied across individuals).

“The most likely explanation for our results is that alligators living on golf courses have different habitat use patterns and have access to different prey communities relative to alligators in more natural habitats. Thus, land use change can strongly alter the feeding patterns of large-bodied predators and, as a result, may affect their body condition, exposure to human-made chemicals, and role within ecological communities.”