Two dim-witted wannabe influencers are being investigated after going wildly viral for filming themselves stroking alligators in Florida — just days after a swimmer was killed by one.
“Come with us to pet alligators,” TikTokker Kileigh Rose wrote of the death-defying foolishness her and a friend reckoned would be part of a fun “Steve Irwin summer.”
One clip shows the young women paddling on Silver Springs State Park in a small, clear canoe when one of them puts her hand in the water, rubbing her hand along the alligator’s back, the Orlando Sentinel reported of the footage that was deleted after racking up 2.1 million views and a flurry of outrage.
“Did you get that? I just pet the s–t out of him,” the foolhardy kayaker said with a smile.
Another clip — seen an astonishing 21 million times — showed an alligator thrashing around near their small canoe.
“F–k!” the TikTokker’s friend shouted as the gator splashed dangerously close, as Kileigh screamed in terror from a paddleboard.
The Florida Wildlife Commission is now investigating the footage, with possible punishment of a $500 fine or even 60 days in jail for petting alligators, which is considered harassment.
The baffling video went viral just days after at least three terrifying alligator attacks — including the horrific mauling of hiker Brittany Clark, also in Florida.
Clark, 31, was ambushed on June 28 while swimming in the Econlockhatchee River at Little Big Econ State Forest, around 90 miles from where the TikTokkers filmed their crazy content.
Brodie Terry, an 11-year-old Pennsylvania schoolboy, also lost his hand in an attack while fishing with his family on June 27, while fisherman James Grayson McMicken, 71, was ambushed by a gator while fishing on the shore of a canal near his North Fort Myers home on July 3.
He only escaped with his life intact after digging his thumb in its eye before hammering it with his rod.
Most of the TikTokker’s followers had little sympathy for their potential troubles.
“Repercussion need to happen. This is 100% harassment of the gator, the gator is swimming away, even hissing as a warning but she continues to follow it,” one appalled viewer wrote online.
“Not the brightest bulb in the pack,” another quipped.
