Richard Jones was walking with his family in the Ocala National Forest when they spotted the alligator.
He believes his son startled the raccoon while trying to take a picture of the reptile.
The image has become an internet sensation since the photo was taken on Sunday morning.
Mr Jones told local television station WFTV that he "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," he told the television station.
The photo was met largely with humour and a degree of admiration for the raccoon.
"The raccoon riding an alligator is the most Florida thing since mortgage fraud," tweeted Benjamin Freed, a writer for the Washingtonian, alluding to the financial crisis that began in 2007.
While Mark Di Stefano found a deeper meaning in the image: "Some days you're the raccoon. Some days you're the alligator." he tweeted.
The debate also moved to how this compared to previous internet animal stars.
One Tweeter put out a call for a meme.
Which thankfully the internet answered.
Meanwhile, Steve Drew suggested that this was actually the beginning of an improbable Hollywood plotline.
"Someone took a photo of raccoon riding an alligator in FL. That or Guardians of The Galaxy II is off to a good start," he tweeted.
Whilst one tweeter counselled that this was actually a far more serious matter than it first appeared.
A man walking in a national forest in central Florida has captured a rare image of a raccoon appearing to ride on the back of an alligator.