A fella's first time using his drone didn't exactly go as expected, thanks to an inquisitive alligator.
Fisherman Luciano Souza was trying out his bit of kit last Friday (15 July) over the Javaés River, in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, when his camera caught the eye of a huge reptile.
Video recorded by the device shows the beast popping its head above the water and taking a look at the hovering camera; and then, within seconds, the creature leaps up and clasps the thing in its jaws.
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Check it out here:
Luciano told Brazilian news outlet G1 that he paid almost $1,300 (£1,080) for the drone in 2020, which he'd planned to use for the first time last year on his friends' annual fishing trip, but he had to give it a miss after getting Covid-19.
As such, the 47-year-old was excited to finally try it out, but soon enough he'd inadvertently put the drone in a perilous position, and he couldn't react quickly enough once the alligator got it in its sights.
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He said: "The alligator went up very high. I had no reaction at the time.
"He was very fast. Only those who saw it have an idea.
"When he went up, he smashed the drone and made a noise. You can see that it stopped filming in his mouth, when it hit it was very fast.
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"I couldn't believe it happened. He went up almost two meters. I didn't react, but it's OK."
Luciano and his pals subsequently chased down the alligator in a bid to retrieve the drone and they were able to catch up with the animal – but it still had the drone in its mouth, and they made the sensible decision to not try and extricate the bit of kit.
Unperturbed, Luciano is hoping to splash out on another drone and chase down another gator – though presumably next time he will make sure to hover it a little higher over the water.
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"I'm going to try to buy another one, run after another (alligator)," he said.
All the best with that, Luciano.
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Topics: Animals, Technology
Jake Massey