Gator Country

One of my granddaughter's favorite haunts is Gator Country. She could go here everyday and not get tired of it. Gator Country is a wildlife adventure park and restaurant that includes a alligator rescue and rehab program. They even have their own television program on CMT called "Gator 911"


We had lunch while waiting for the educational program to begin, where they talk about the history of Gator Country along with exhibiting live animals such as juvenile alligators, crocodiles, and snakes.


During the program they presented a juvenile alligator and crocodile along with a boa constrictor. My granddaughter had to touch the boa, but stayed back a little when she saw the opened mouth of a juvenile crocodile.

The main reason she has been here so many times though is because of "Big Al". This alligator is the largest one in captivity in the state of Texas and second in the U.S. From stem to stern this reptile measures an easy 13 feet and weighs near a half a ton. It appears every bit as monstrous as he emerges from his pond and approaches the handlers.


I was a little uncomfortable about how close they were getting to Big Al, cause if he had a hankerin' he could easily charge and there's nothing they could do about it.

At one point one of the handlers sets a rock on the tip of his nose while his toothed maw is agape. He then snaps his jaws shut. I have a video of Big Al doing this, but Blogger is having some sort of problem with uploading video, so as soon as that is fixed I'll post it in this entry and then let everyone know.