Gator Country

So, when my brother and niece were here (ahem, about a month ago) we went out to a place called Gator Country. (I'm sorry it has taken so long to post this, Cal. :) I completely forgot...but better late than never, right?) We didn't think was the BEST place for a one-year old, so she spent the afternoon with Kris's parents, and we went out there for lunch and a tour of the park. The restaurant was very good, we ate fried alligator that tasted, like, well...you guessed it...chicken! It was a little "fishy" and chewier than chicken, but still very good. :)

It isn't quite as impressive in pictures, but it was pretty cool to see all of these alligators in person! I also wanted to share some of the fun info and statistics we learned, but I waited a month to share this outing with you all, and I forgot all of them. Oh, I do remember one...an alligator chomps that huge mouth down with 3,000 pounds per square inch!!! Ouch! OH...and they eat each other!!! They can only keep them in ponds with other gators about the same size, b/c they have a 2 foot rule. An alligator will eat any other gator that is about 2 feet smaller than himself! Crazy!

We also fed alligators and watched some crazy guys wrestle and mess with them. Here are some fun photos and video from the day.

Feeding the gators hotdogs from a string:


This is the largest alligtor in captivity in the US, longer than 13 feet!...and these crazy cats are standing in there aggravating him!
Seriously, how crazy must you be to get in the water and swim with a 9 foot alligator! Remember, these are not "tame!!"
Cal holding a baby gator named "Chubbs"
Cal holding a white python...pay no attention to the classy guy with the tattoo (the other side said "pride"...nice, huh?)
Cal wanted to hold a bigger gator!:
We all had to pet this little lizard, but check out that cat that worked at the place...certainly fits in, doesn't he?!
Funny Uncle Cal!

And Cal wanted to hold a bigger gator...funny watching the alligator wrestler catch him.