A terrifying video has emerged from the US of an an angry alligator almost grabbing a man's hand when he tries to touch the reptile.

The footage, captured in Lake Charles, Louisiana, shows the man putting his fingertips on top the mouth of a seemingly relaxed alligator when suddenly the animal rears up and snaps at him, just missing his hand.

''I was with my girlfriend at the time, and we saw the alligator near the edge of a body of water, and we just decided to get out of our car to get a closer look, the filmer later wrote online

''I looked at her, and said "I'm gonna touch it." Then, I proceeded to do so.'

''As you can see in the video, the alligator snapped at me and I nearly lost my hand,'' he added.

Although the video was filmed a few years ago, it has only recently come to light.

++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN LOOPED++

I was with my girlfriend at the time, and we saw the alligator near the edge of a body of water, and we just decided to get out of our car to get a closer look. I looked at her, and said "I'm gonna touch it." Then, I proceeded to do so. If anything were to happen, I wanted it to be caught on camera so I recorded it with my phone in one hand while I touched the alligator's about with the other. As you can see in the video, the alligator snapped at me and I nearly lost my hand.