It was croc versus Croc as this very snappy creature tried to gobble up a rubbery shoe.
The reptile spent 30 minutes trying to eat the tough footwear before admitting defeat and spitting it out.
The humorous scene was captured on camera by Phil Lanoue in the salt marshes of Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina, after he saw a group of people standing staring down into the lake.
He initially thought the gator had grabbed one of the area’s crabs.
The 58-year-old said: ‘I stopped my car and asked a few people what the gator had. When they said it was a shoe I quickly grabbed my camera to get some shots. When we found out it was a Crocs shoe, everyone thought it was hilarious.
‘After a while the gator grew confused and frustrated by the resilient rubber and gave up. It spit out the Croc and eventually left it alone.’
Lanoue was just 20 feet away from the action as he took the snaps, and while he had often taken shots of crocs on the hunt for their next meal, this incident was definitely a first.
Lanoue added: ‘I’ve seen alligators grab some interesting items before but certainly never anything like this.’