That time a raccoon went surfing on an alligator

Ah, summer. A time for popsicles, trips to the beach, sand castles, and alligator surfing.

Wait. What?

Yeah. Alligator surfing. All the cool raccoons are doing it. At least one very rad raccoon in the Ocala National Forest in Ocala, Florida, did this weekend. Lucky for us, Richard Jones was there to capture the awesomeness on film.

Jones and his family were in the forest for a day of alligator watching. (Why didn’t I know this was a thing? And can this family please adopt me? Because clearly they’re amazing.) When one of the Jones kiddos ventured into some palm fronds to try to snap a better photo (again . . . how cool is this family?), he apparently startled a raccoon hiding in the brush. The raccoon scurried toward the water and hopped on top of an alligator conveniently parked nearby. Because of course he did.

Jones told his local news station, “I snapped a lucky picture right when the gator slipped into the water and before the raccoon jumped off and scurried away. Without the context you’d think the raccoon was hitching a ride across the river. Pretty amazing. Definitely the photo of a lifetime.”

We’re glad everyone walked away from this crazy situation unscathed. Even the raccoon. Hang ten, dude.

[Image via.]