A frightening alligator with bright red eyes was captured in these images as it skulked in a shallow river shortly after dusk.
At Myakka River State Park in Florida, the intrepid photographer Larry Lynch captured the beast waiting to pounce while standing just seven meters away.
The image below, titled Warning Night Light, was created by Larry and was awarded the Natural History Museum’s animal portrait of the year award.
All I had to do was locate a cooperative alligator since, as Larry remarked, “I knew the alligators were hanging out in a certain region.”
Larry managed to capture the ominous glimmer in the alligator’s eyes by turning his flash to the lowest level.
It’s easy to recognize an alligator at night thanks to its recognizable red light.
Alligator eyes use unique photoreceptor cells to maximize low light, similar to cats’ eyes. In alligators, as opposed to cats, the reflection is red.
Larry recalled the tense moment he took his award-winning pictures: ‘Between kneeling in several inches of black mud, the heat, humidity, and blood thirsty mosquitos my thoughts were, get the best picture I can and get the hell out.’
Female alligators rarely grow beyond nine feet long, but males can grow much larger.
