LIVING & SWIMMING WITH AN ALLIGATOR NAMED PSYCHO

By: Glenn Wilsey, Sr.

In the above picture I am swimming with an alligator named Psycho who measures over 10 feet long. First off, I want to point out that Psycho is not anyone’s pet, alligators can not be domesticated and yes, they can be very dangerous. I’ll bet you’re thinking this guy must be CRAZY! You’ve heard all of those horror stories about alligators, how they sneak up and grab people, dragging them under water to hide and eat later. I hear these stories all the time myself. My favorite story begins; “A friend of mine was fishing and his hook got caught on a lilly pad and when he went to unhook it an alligator came out of nowhere and tried to grab him.”

These stories are pretty cool but only a FOOL will make up a story like that and repeat it. If someone tells you a story like that, it’s OK to tell them that they are repeating just another apocryphal tale, a backwoods tall tale. These stories get alligators killed. When someone tells a whopper like that, the State of Florida sends out professional trappers (hired killers I call them) to put the alligator to death. That’s right, there is no attempt at relocation or rehabilitation of the alligator. Once a gator has been called dangerous they are killed.

These are unfortunate circumstances, but there’s money to be made from these so-called rogue gators. Some of the trappers will come out to kill a single problem alligator, but because there are a lot of alligators in Florida, they will kill as many gators in an area as they can get away with. They just say they couldn’t be sure they got the right one the first time. The more alligators the killer takes, the more money he makes. This tactic infuriates the locals like myself. We know that 90% of alligator bites are provoked bites that happen when some idiot tries to show off for their friends. We call this the “I’m not scared of an alligator syndrome.” Some of these geniuses think that if the guy in the show can “wrasstle” a gator then they can too. The difference is crystal clear, folks. Whenever you see an alligator wrestling show, whether you see mine or that of any of the several other professionals in Florida and a few other places, we have studied these animals for years and we respect them. Another way folks are bitten is when the same kind of idiot catches a small alligator on a fishing line and tries to reel it in and grab it. We know it was a small alligator they caught, most likely less than 3 feet long, because that person still has his fingers and / or hands still attached to his body. The trappers that the County sends out know that too, but an alligator less than 3 feet long isn’t worth much. So… he takes the bigger alligators in the area. The person that was bitten doesn’t want to tell anyone that he was harassing a small alligator so by the time he gets to the hospital the alligator has grown (in his mind) to 6 or 7 feet long and he was viciously attacked without provocation. If that were true, our boy wouldn’t still have his fingers and / or hands attached where they were when he got up that morning.

To set the record straight, alligators bite people and crocodiles eat people. Florida is the only place in the world that you can find both alligators and crocodiles but Florida crocodiles aren’t as big or as aggressive as those in other parts of the world.

The alligator I’m swimming with is over 10 feet long and his name is psycho. My first encounter with Psycho was almost 8 years ago. I was cooling off by swimming in the lake when I had one of those funny feelings that something was looking at me! When I turned around, Psycho was 4 feet from me. Back then he was only a little fella, about 8 feet long. I could tell you all that I wasn’t scared, not me, not one bit. But, since I haven’t lied to you in any of my stories yet I’m not going to start now. I was terrified.

Growing up in The Everglades and being an alligator wrestler I’ve learned a lot about coexisting with alligators. Alligators are just like any other animals or even people. Some of them are intelligent and some are not. In the wilds of The Everglades I think nothing of walking up to an alligator in the water and checking him out. As you approach a gator you watch his body language and his attitude. You have to understand alligator behavior, of course, and know what you’re looking for as you approach them. I do.

Anytime I dive into the lake by Gator Park, where I work; Psycho will come over to check out what’s happening. If I make a certain noise that tells him it’s me he comes over to me within touching range. One day, while swimming by the culvert pipe that runs under the road, Psycho swam into me by accident. The water was rushing through the pipe and Psycho was stuck in the current. He couldn’t stop and he ran into me. I didn’t even see him coming and his nose slammed into my back. Psycho turned and swam off with a massive splash. I didn’t have time to react and I think he was more surprised then I was.

Although I talk very nonchalantly about alligators you should never let down your guard when you’re around alligators. Never put your self between an alligator and the water because the water is the alligator’s safety zone and he will always run for the water if he feels threatened. If you are in the way he will bite you. The most important thing to remember is to never feed an alligator. They are not pets and they can not be domesticated. If you feed an alligator he will always come back for more. If you don’t have any more for him he will get very aggressive with you or with anyone else that comes along and doesn’t realize that the gator has been getting hand outs. The key word here is HAND out.

Well, I hope you have learned some more about alligators and will be responsible and respectful onlookers if you see an alligator. GATORMAN

NATURE RULES!!!

*This story or any part of it can not be used or reproduced with out written permission of the author!

Or Me At Gatorman1@aaof.us