If you’ve ever wondered why cats are said to have nine lives, look no further than this footage captured by an infrared camera trap at Florida’s National Key Deer Wildlife Refuge. As this feline learned firsthand, although alligators have a slow metabolism and heavy bodies, they are capable of sudden bursts of speed.
The cat picked the wrong time for a stroll, since alligators are most active between dusk and dawn. Specimens this size (six feet long) can bite down with 2,960 pounds of force, one of the most powerful bites ever recorded for a living animal. So, while alligators prefer to swallow their prey whole — cats and dogs are the perfect size — they can also shake larger animals apart into smaller, manageable pieces.
If the alligator had pursued the cat, it likely would have been futile. The top speed for a gator on land is 11 mph, compared to a domestic cat’s 30 mph. But here’s an important safety tip for cats: don’t try hiding in a tree, since it turns out that alligators are accomplished climbers.
