Never let your guard down - especially not in the Florida Everglades.
Heart-stopping video captured the moment a fisherman and his friends nearly learned that lesson the hard way when a massive alligator snuck up on them as they stood by the edge of the water.
TikTok user @capecoral.jade shared the footage on Tuesday and has since racked up more than 25 million views.
The group managed to back away from the water unscathed, but the viral video serves as an excellent reminder to be wary on the banks of bodies of water where alligators live.
Heart-stopping video captured the moment a fisherman and his friends discovered a massive alligator lurking near them in the Florida Everglades
The clip begins with a man standing beside the water, using a lure to try to catch a fish
A caption on the chilling clip reads: 'Florida Everglades never fails to amuse and terrify.'
It begins with a man standing beside the water, using a lure to try to catch a fish.
'Wait for it...' reads text superimposed on the video.
The camera zooms in on the man's lure as the group looks on and one person behind the camera says that an alligator gar that was 'sniffing' the bait lost interest.
'Oh my god, holy s**t,' exclaims an onlooker as the camera pans out, revealing a large alligator that had quietly floated to the surface next to the fisherman's lure.
'Guys I'm not kidding, I s**t,' a woman off camera exclaims. 'I'm not kidding I just s**t myself.'
'I'm racing - feel my stomach. I'm shaking.'
The alligator slowly crept up on the fisherman while he was focused on his lure
Many commenters joked about the gator waiting to 'catch' any of the swamp-goers who fell into the water.
Others mentioned, as one of the individuals in the video noted, that this was a good example of why you should never dangle your feet into bodies of water known to have alligators living in them.
And some said they saw the animal gliding over the water's brown moss before the group in the video.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state records an average of seven unprovoked alligator bites per year that are serious enough to require hospitalization.
Texas Parks and Wildlife recommends that those who find themselves in close proximity to an alligator should back away slowly from the animal rather than running.
View this post on Instagram