{"id":47050,"date":"2005-10-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-10-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/python-explodes-after-swallowing-alligator\/"},"modified":"2005-10-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2005-10-24T00:00:00","slug":"python-explodes-after-swallowing-alligator","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/python-explodes-after-swallowing-alligator\/","title":{"rendered":"Python Explodes After Swallowing an Alligator"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wildlife researcher Michael Barron was making his way through Florida&#39;s Everglades National Park when he stumbled onto a gruesome demonstration of the consequences of an oversized appetite.<\/p>\n\n<p>In the preceding days, a 13-foot long Burmese python had attacked and subdued a 6-foot long American alligator. Apparently, the python gained the advantage during the initial phases of its assault, wrapping the alligator in its powerful, constricting body. Amazingly, it was even able to swallow the massive reptile whole! However, victory was short-lived, as the snake&#39;s abdomen burst while it attempted to digest its prey.<\/p>\n\n<p>When Mr. Barron discovered the remains of the two combatants several days later, the python&#39;s stomach still covered the alligator&#39;s head, shoulders, and forelimbs, but the gator&#39;s hindquarters were protruding from the snake&#39;s midsection. Neither animal survived.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[452],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3415,3429,3677,3706,3764,4065,4100,4409,4435,5231],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-47050","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-animals","tax_ctp_tags-appetites","tax_ctp_tags-consequences-of-sin","tax_ctp_tags-covenants-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-desert","tax_ctp_tags-gluttony","tax_ctp_tags-greed","tax_ctp_tags-lust","tax_ctp_tags-materialism","tax_ctp_tags-vices"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Python Explodes After Swallowing an Alligator - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/python-explodes-after-swallowing-alligator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Python Explodes After Swallowing an Alligator - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wildlife researcher Michael Barron was making his way through Florida&#039;s Everglades National Park when he stumbled onto a gruesome demonstration of the consequences of an oversized appetite. In the preceding days, a 13-foot long Burmese python had attacked and subdued a 6-foot long American alligator. Apparently, the python gained the advantage during the initial phases Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/python-explodes-after-swallowing-alligator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/python-explodes-after-swallowing-alligator\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/python-explodes-after-swallowing-alligator\/\",\"name\":\"Python Explodes After Swallowing an Alligator - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2005-10-24T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2005-10-24T00:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/python-explodes-after-swallowing-alligator\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/python-explodes-after-swallowing-alligator\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/python-explodes-after-swallowing-alligator\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Python Explodes After Swallowing an Alligator\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Python Explodes After Swallowing an Alligator - CT Pastors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/python-explodes-after-swallowing-alligator\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Python Explodes After Swallowing an Alligator - CT Pastors","og_description":"Wildlife researcher Michael Barron was making his way through Florida&#39;s Everglades National Park when he stumbled onto a gruesome demonstration of the consequences of an oversized appetite. 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