iStockphoto / fotoguy22/Brittany Crossman/ArendTrent
A 'Welcome to Florida' road sign with an alligator and a black bear in the forefront
Only in Florida can you be out fishing and spot an alligator stalking a black bear swimming across a river. Though, I suppose it could happen in a handful of other states where alligators and bears are both found but with an estimated 1.3 million alligators and 4,000+ black bears found in Florida the odds of this unbelievable encounter are certainly higher here than elsewhere.
In the clip below, Captain Justin Morgan was fishing on the Kissimmee River in South Central Florida near Lake Okeechobee, the largest lake in Florida and the largest natural freshwater lake that is contained entirely within the United States. It is a global freshwater fishing hotspot and apparently also a location to spot bears swimming for their lives away from alligators.
Florida Man Spots Alligator Stalking After Black Bear Near Lake Okeechobee
While 4,000+ black bears is no small number, seeing bears in the wild in Florida is still a very rare occurrence for most Floridians. The bears tend to inhabit wildlife corridors throughout the central portions of the state and while they might turn up in a place like Naples to hop aboard luxury yachts, or to steal White Claws in Lake Mary, they are largely unseen by the state’s residents.
Suffice it to say, seeing this large alligator swiftly pursuing a bear swimming across the Kissimmee River is about as rare of a Florida wildlife occurrence as one could conceivably expect to see. The only thing that would make it rarer is if the alligator was chasing a native Florida Panther, a distinct subspecies of the Puma/Mountain Lion across North America.
Check this out:
It is hard to fathom seeing that in South Florida in the middle of the Summer. Every day brings hellacious thunderstorms, suffocating humidity, and interminable heat. Yet here is a bear, a black bear, a large North American mammal typically associated with the mountains and cooler weather, swimming across a brackish Florida river full of Swamp Puppies and getting pursued by a massive alligator.
They’re all over the state though! So it really is only a matter of time until bears and alligators cross paths down here. This one was spotted casually swimming in the Gulf:
A bear casually swimming at a Gulf of America beach, it's hot out there! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/XXAT2QIAGj
— Uncensored USA 🇺🇸 (@CarlosSimancas) June 1, 2025
What a world!