brooksie female alligator wrestler alabama

In 2006, an alligator took down real-estate baron Ronald Bergeron after the land developer tried to wrestle a gator during a party. Needless to say, it is not a sport for amateurs. One wrong move and your arm or leg could end up in the Old Alligator Wrestler's Retirement Villa*. Doesn't he look like he loves educating the public?ĭespite not being nearly as violent as it sounds, all alligator wrestlers will most likely be bitten at some point. Easy! Along the way, they perform tricks and explain interesting tidbits about about the animal's behavior and biology. Neither Greco-Roman, nor WWF, alligator wrestlers are actually trying to do something more akin to calf-roping: Catch an alligator from a pool or pit and bind its jaws shut with rope. The 'wrestling' in alligator wrestling is something of a misnomer. By November 10, 2000, Long was wrestling alligators for $8 an hour, the going rate for gator-wrestlers.Tips are recommended. And thus, the newspaper ad.Īnswering the ad, and ultimately winning the gig, was 32-year-old Greg Long. Improved access to higher education–and the fact that, today, Seminole are more likely to actually own the tourist trap, rather than just work there–meant fewer tribe members willing to risk life and limb for a poorly paying job. Wrestling alligators for the benefit of white tourists used to be one of the few Seminole-friendly job markets in Florida. But it was only in the 21st century that the tribe had hard luck finding people willing to jump in there (i.e., the swamp) and go for it (i.e., pin several-hundred-pound, sharp-toothed creatures to the ground with only their soft and presumably tasty bodies). Hand-caught gators were a traditional food source. Mano-y-gator conflict is nothing new to the Seminole. They were looking for a new alligator wrestler. In 2000, members of the Seminole tribe near Hollywood, Florida put an ad in the local paper. Why It's Hard to Find Good Gator Wrestling Help These Days A freelance science and health journalist, Maggie lives in Minneapolis, brain dumps on Twitter, and writes quite often for mental_floss magazine. Maggie Koerth-Baker is a guest blogger on Boing Boing.

Brooksie female alligator wrestler alabama