There is eating something spicy and then there is eating something that mechanically combusts in your mouth and starts smoking.
If that happens, it means whatever you ate is probably not actually edible, although one time I had some shrimp tacos that I think might have caused actual steam to come out of my ears like a cartoon character.
Anyways, an alligator in Florida was recently seen steaming like a smoke bomb after taking a big bite out of what it presumably thought was a bird. Turns out it was actually just some tourist’s drone that flew way too close for comfort, just like Icarus flew a little too close to the sun.
The video caption admits the tourists operating the drone were novices and only using the device for the second time ever. They expected the drone’s remote sensor to kick in and help keep it from getting to an unsafe distance from the gator.
“We were trying to get a close up of the gator with its mouth open and thought the obstacle avoidance would make the drone fly away, it was only our second time using the spark.”
According to Expedition Wildlife, drones have become a popular tool for both recording nature footage and researching wildlife.
Aerial footage and landscape imagery combined with knowledge of ecological concepts is revolutionizing how scientists are implementing wildlife conservation techniques. Drones are commonly used for population analyses of species that tend to congregate in large numbers like seals, shorebirds, and herd species like antelope and elk.
However, as this video footage shows, the use of drones can have negative impacts of wildlife. Keeping the drone at a safe distance as to not stress the animal out or alter its natural behavior is important to keep in mind.
There are a good many nature videos online that display breathtaking footage of wildlife cinematically running across the landscape at full speed, but the animals are usually actually running from the drone which causes them to become unnecessarily stressed out and fatigued which is something that should be avoided.
If you plan on using a drone to film wildlife footage, it’s important to keep in mind that at no point should the device come anywhere as close as it does to the gator in this video. As soon as you notice any change in the animals behavior in response to the presence of the drone then you should discontinue flying your drone in that area.
Speaking of flying too close to a gator, remember this behemoth snatching downed ducks?
