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A Florida park is asking visitors to pick up their trash after video of a gator munching on plastic

Posted at 1:52 AM, Jun 26, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-26 03:52:29-04

We’ve seen it with whales, we’ve seen it with dolphins and now it’s gators.

Animals keep mistakenly eating our trash.

A visitor posted a video showing an alligator at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, in Crawfordville, Florida, chewing on a plastic bag. The park said the gator likely thought it contained something edible.

“This is a strong reminder to please secure your trash when you carry it home with you,” the park said. “Help protect our wildlife. Please keep an eye out for a gator in distress or one trailing a rope or string.”

The visitor who captured the footage, Corine Samwel, posted a series of videos with the animal’s actions.

The reptile approaches the bag slowly before beginning to chew on it. Another video shows the gator walking toward a body of water with a string attached to its body, seemingly coming from its mouth.

“When the gator goes back to the water a rope is hanging out of its mouth,” Samwel wroteon Facebook.

“Please people, do not use single use plastic and do not litter!,” Samwel said. “I then picked up about five plastic bottles, ten beer cans, cigarette butts, surgical gloves, bike gloves, a rope, and all sorts of stuff.”