NEW YORK – From gasps to laughs and the occasional tear, 2022 brought a rollercoaster of emotions in extreme, face-to-face animal encounters captured on camera.
FOX Weather has compiled seven videos that piqued the interest of our readers and are worth reviewing again.
A YEAR OF EXTREMES: BEST VIRAL WEATHER VIDEOS OF 2022
A stressed bull elk with large antlers was seen charging toward a man photographing the animal in Colorado.
The event unfolded on Sept. 24 during elk rutting season in Estes Park. Megan Foster recorded a video showing the elk walking toward a group of tourists before setting sights on a man who, she said, had been making a noise to get a response from the animal. Click here to read more.
An alligator was found inside a massive Burmese python in Florida.
“This particular python was roughly 18-foot and had consumed a 5-foot alligator,” said geoscientist Rosie Moore who posted the video on Instagram where it has racked up over thousands of reactions.
Moore said the python was found in the Florida Everglades but not in a national park. It was euthanized and turned over to the research lab for necropsy and scientific sample collection. Click here to read more.
Two bull moose went buck wild back in October on a Colorado driveway as a family watched the spectacle unfold from the safety of their Steamboat Springs home.
Charley Lodwick captured the fight on video as the battling pair bashed into a parked vehicle, sending a wing mirror flying. The mayhem continued moments later after one moose ended up in the back of a pickup truck. Click here to read more.
A Douglas County, Colorado, deputy was hailed a hero after his efforts led to the rescue of a dog from a burning SUV. The entire incident was captured on bodycam.
The scene unfolded on Jan. 22 in a usually quiet suburban neighborhood outside Denver. Video released by the sheriff’s office showed Deputy Michael Gregorek arriving in the neighborhood to the smoke-filled SUV. Click here to read more.
If you are lost in the eyes of baby Kucheza, a viral video of his reunion with his mother after a brief separation following birth will surely warm your heart.
Chimpanzee Mahale gave birth to her baby boy on Nov. 15 via C-section at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas. His birth was celebrated by posting a tear-jerker video of the newborn welcomed back into his loving mother’s arms following a two-day medical observation.
Five weeks later, an animal care team at the zoo said the chimpanzee infant was found dead and cradled in his mother’s arms when they arrived at the zoo on Dec. 22. Click here to read more.
Sometimes the underdog wins, even if it’s a turtle.
Drone video, which appears to have been initially shot in April, captured the dramatic moments when a loggerhead turtle got the better of an aggressive tiger shark off the coast of a remote beach in Western Australia.
Video recorded by professional drone operator Jack Garnett shows the turtle repeatedly using its shell to roll over the attacking tiger shark in clear blue water near the Winderabandi coastline. Click here to read more.
Fishermen who had been fishing off the coast of New Jersey back in October have quite the fish tale to tell upon returning home after nearly struck by a massive breaching whale.
Zach Piller said he and his father Doug had been out fishing near Seaside Heights and began filming when he noticed a whale’s tail poking out of the water nearby and fish jumping right in front of them. Seconds later, a massive humpback whale breached right alongside their boat. Click here to read more.