My name is Brooke Shuck and I am a member of the Washington & Jefferson College Class of 2020. This blog documents my time in Florida working with alligators during my 2017 Magellan Project!
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Me doing some Alligator Wrestling on day 22! By far the best part of my entire project and a great way to end it!
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Day 23: Monday June 12, 2017
Today I officially returned home from my three-week study experience. I haven’t even been home a whole day, and I already want to go back down. I miss the Everglades, the people, and above all, the alligators. I had an absolutely amazing time and I learned more about alligators than I could ever imagine. I cannot wait to return to the Everglades again someday.
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Day 22: Sunday June 11, 2017
I, without a doubt, saved my best day for last! Three days ago I signed up for a training experience, and it was the best decision I ever made in my life. When I woke up this morning I quickly got ready and made my way to Gatorland where I took part in a multiple hour trainer-for-a-day program! Though this was not originally planned, I decided to make the detour because I knew that I would be doing a lot of hands on activity with the animals.
Since I had talked to my trainer and guide on the phone the day before, he knew all about my project. He was impressed with my knowledge and told the other man in our group that he may want to ask me all the questions because I was now an “expert.”
For my first encounter, we went into a small office where there was a large tank that was home to three hatchlings. These gators were so small that they fit right into the palm of my hand. Also, because they were newly hatched, their mouths did not have to be taped shut because their teeth would not actually be strong enough to break the skin. Nevertheless, I kept my fingers out of their mouth because I knew the bite would still hurt.
After leaving the office, we went out into the park. Here we first stopped at a pen that housed 3 - 4 year old gators. After the trainer jumped into the water and caught two, he wrapped their mouths and let me hold one. Though fairly young, the alligator was heavy and hard to hang on to when he started thrashing around, trying to get free. I hung on however and was told to hold the gator firmly as if it were a machine gun! After I was done holding the gator, the trainer removed the tape from its mouth to show me the gators jaws. Though young, that gator would’ve been able to rip my finger off it had gotten a hold of it.
Before moving onto the next exhibit, we stopped to look at some of the giant gators in the open pens because they were bellowing. As I said in an earlier post, bellowing is how an alligator calls for a mate. It was so cool to watch because the gator would rise up out of the water and the water around them would shudder as the sound waves passed through. We even saw some males fighting as they were both trying to gain control of the one area!
Though it is called Gatorland, the park is also home to a lot of other animals. While there, I got to engage with Galapagos tortoises, a python, Florida Panthers, raccoons, and some birds!
Next, I got to look in on some Crocodiles! Since crocodiles, are more aggressive, faster, stronger, and all together smarted than alligators, none of us were able to go into the pens with them. In fact, feeders that work at the park daily have a tough time going into the pens. So, we stayed close, but safe outside of the fences.
After walking around the park for a little bit, I finally got the chance to go into a pen that was connected to a breeding pool. The alligators here were giant and they came right up to us when we entered because they knew that we had brought food. For about 30 minutes, we threw raw meat to the alligators and right into their mouths. At the end, I decided I wanted a picture. So, I turned my back to the alligators, trusting that they wouldn’t lunge at me, and posed for the best picture of my life!
After the large feeding, I went into different exhibits to feed some other alligators, including two different kinds of white alligator, albino and leucistic. Leucism is an extremely rare mutation that results in the partial loss of pigmentation, whereas albinism results in total pigmentation loss. Leusisitc alligators have some spots on them and usually have gorgeous blue eyes. Albino alligators are entirely white with white/pink eyes. Both were beautiful and fun to interact with. Pearl, the albino alligator was extremely aggressive, but it was awesome to feed her!
After all of the meat was done, we moved onto my favorite part of the day, Alligator Wrestling. Though the trainer was in the pit with me, I had such a great time getting up close and personal with a seven foot alligator. I even got to do some tricks such as bull dogging and sticking my finger in the gators mouth! Don’t worry though, all ten fingers are still attached! Alligator wrestling was just a lot of fun and something that I did not think was possible until I decided to make the detour through Orlando. It was totally worth it!
Though I was perfectly safe while engaging with these animals, sometimes people are not so lucky. These are wild animals and even though they are kept in captivity and are worked with everyday, the animals will still revert back to their instincts. After I was done in the ring, another handler got into show us a few tricks. He was doing well until he went to flip the gator over. This is a cool trick because the alligator become immobilized when it is on its back, and it cannot “wake up” until it is tickled. Anyway, while he was performing the trick, his hand slipped and the alligator bit down hard onto his thumb. It took three trainers over 15 minutes to be able to get the alligators jaws open so that he could remove his hand. Fortunately, they were able to get his hand out of the alligators mouth and his thumb was still connected to his hand. Despite the blood and the hole in his hand, the trainer performed his trick anyway. He will be okay even though he will need some anti-bacterial medicine and stitches. If you look closely at the gators mouth and neck in the last few pictures, you will see some blood. As I said, these are wild and dangerous animals that must be respected!
I had a fantastic time at Gatorland, and I am positive that I will be back again someday! For now, I am headed back home to Pennsylvania. I will be stopping somewhere in Virginia to spend the night. My Magellan is over, but I had such a wonderful time!
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Day 21: Saturday June 10, 2017
Today was my first and only “off-day” of my Magellan. My morning was spent trying to find Gatorland, which I eventually did. The rest of the day was spent traveling around Orlando and just enjoying my last full day in Florida.
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Day 20: Friday June 9, 2017
Today was yet another travel day. After sleeping in for a bit, I left Ft. Lauderdale around noon and made the four hour drive up to Orlando. Though I had originally not planned on stopping in Orlando at all, I decided to make the stop after signing up for an alligator training day at Gatorland in Orlando. I spent the rest of the night driving around Orlando and enjoying a nice evening.
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Day 19: Thursday June 8, 2017
My final day at Everglades Alligator Farm was very enjoyable. Once again, Ben was an amazing mentor. While he helped me work with the alligators, he also made me learn how to work with other animals. After working with my buddy Little Prince for a bit, I helped Ben with the farms snake show. Following the show, Ben hold me that Carlisle was getting jealous of me spending so much time with Little Prince. So, I took a selfie with Carlisle the python.
Following the snake show, I went back to say goodbye to all of the baby alligators and two of my favorite alligators at the farm; the speckled caimans Sonny and Cher.
Finally, I got to watch Ben perform another wrestling show and another feeding. Ben had even told me that I could take over if he happened to get bitten. Thankfully, Ben was fine and I remained safely in the stands as a spectator.
Before I left, I had to make sure that I’d said goodbye to Ben. Though he told me on my first day that he would not be seen in any pictures, he finally gave in to my begging and gave a thumbs up. Then, I took my last picture with my favorite alligator Little Prince. As a final goodbye, Little Prince peed on my shoe. I know that we will be friends forever!
Following my last day in Florida City, I drove back up here to Ft. Lauderdale where I will stay for one night. I really cannot believe that I only have a few days left.
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Day 18: Wednesday June 7, 2017
Today I went back up to Shark Valley for one final time before the end of my Magellan. There, I decided to rent a bike again, but I didn’t travel the entire path. Instead, I stayed within the first three miles where most of the alligators are congregated. As I began, I found that many big gators were enjoying the sun by laying with their heads on the path. While this was cool to see, it was also a bit unsettling, and I made sure to keep my distance.
One cool thing I observed today was an alligator opening its eyes. Since a gator’s eyes are on the side of their head, they cannot see directly in front of them and they cannot see anything that drops below their eye level. What was cool was that as I rode past some of the sleeping gators, they would only open one eye at a time as I passed. Basically they would wink both eyes as I past instead of opening both of them at the same time. Today I also got to see some hatchlings hanging out on some sandbags in a small pond.
Now I am back in my hotel enjoying my final night in Florida City before I begin driving North.
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Day 17: Tuesday June 6, 2017
Today was my last day at Everglades National Park and I cannot wait to go back in the future. The area is just so beautiful and all the animals are just fun to be around. I started my day by driving down to the other end of the park again. Though I didn’t see much on my drive I did snap a picture of the sign that told me my elevation was 3 feet. Though there really wasn’t anything significant about it, I really just thought the sign was funny.
After my drive, I went back to the area that I have seen most of the wildlife. Sadly, I saw very few alligators. I suppose most were hiding in the water and shade since this was the first really hot and dry day this week. Even though the day lacked the gators, I did get to see some birds, bugs, lizard, and another soft shelled turtle!
Overall I had a great day even though today marked the beginning of the end.
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Day 16: Monday June 5, 2017
Since I have been talking to Ben so much about my project, he told me that I should check out Coopertown Wildlife Exhibit. So that’s where I went today. Ben had told me that I would be in for a shock and he was right. I was almost sad to walk through the park because these giant animals were in disgusting and much too small pens. It looked as though the animals wouldn’t even have the room to turn around if they wanted to.
Despite the terrible conditions of the cages, I did get to see a python that was also housed at Coopertown. Also, I went on an amazing air boat tour. What made the tour so great was the crazy amount of alligators all through the small river. Everywhere I looked I saw a gator which was awesome!
My day was made when we got back to the exhibits. My tour guide John had told me that Ben had called him and told him that I would be coming down. He was so impressed with my project and my love for gators that he let me do something that only trainers were allowed to do. John let me told a two-year-old alligator without taping the gators mouth closed. He trusted me and I felt so honored. Having a gators mouth not tied shut is a lot less stressful for the alligator, however it was stressful for all the people watching me, and for my parents when they saw the picture. I was extremely happy though. What I thought would be a bad day turned out so much better!
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Day 15: Sunday June 4, 2017
I went back to Everglades Alligator Farm and had another great day. Though I still worked with the trainer Ben and the one-year-old gator Little Prince, I spent some time also checking out the other animals at the farm. My favorite was the alligator snapping turtle! I also really enjoyed checking out the crocodiles.
Due to Ben being a bit under the weather, he ended up going home early. However, he did introduce me to another trainer named Liz. She was awesome at alligator wrestling, but sadly, I completely forgot to take any pictures. Also, because Ben left early, I was not able to do much hands on activity with the animals, but I’m not worried because I will be back one more time before heading home!
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Day 14: Saturday June 3, 2017
So, the wet season and hurricane season officially began two days ago, and holy crap, it’s as if someone flipped a switch. It has rained the past two days and today it rained almost non-stop. Oh well, the rain does not really bother the alligators, so I can’t let it bother me either. Today, I went back up to the Shark Valley portion of the National Park. Since it was raining so much, I decided to take the two-hour tram tour instead of biking the path again. The tram tour was amazing! I got to see so many alligators, birds, and turtles. Also, my tour guide was great and was very knowledgeable about everything we were seeing.
Halfway through the tour we got to stop at the observation tour at the halfway point. Though I had not expected to see much, I was mistaken. In the small lagoon on the other side of the tower were hundreds of alligators. I was surprised that so many alligators were peacefully lying in such close proximity.
At the end of tour, the tour guide took time to explain the alligator mating process. When alligators are ready to mate, they will begin to make a noise called a bellow. The bellow will send a sound wave to throughout the water. When two alligators then come together, the female will challenge the male to an underwater battle. If the male wins, the female will mate with him. A female will only mate with a winning male because they want strong genes to pass onto their young. Once a female becomes pregnant, she will send the male away forever because the male will eat the eggs. When a female lays her eggs, she will lay them in a big hole, bury them in the dirt, and then pee on the nest so that she can track it again when the babies are born. When the hatchlings hatch, they will make little yelping noises to alert their mother that they need help getting out of the nest. A mother will not eat her young when they are born, but she will eat an egg that does not hatch. That is how alligators are born.
Following the tram ride, a spoke to some of the ranger at the park. I then went and walked a couple a paths until it began storming again. Another great day!
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Huge alligator swimming in a tight canal at Everglades National Park on day 13!
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Day 13: Friday June 2, 2017
Even though I just went two days ago, I decided to go back to Everglades National Park. Since I went to the farm yesterday and really got to observe how captive alligators behave when they have space to move, I figured it would be a good day to go and compare wild alligator behavior. Much like captive alligators, wild gators prefer to swim in bigger spaces. However, it seems to me that alligators prefer to lay in much smaller spaces, like the bank of a canal or underneath a tree, than on the bank of a lake. I assume this is because they are able to blend into their surroundings much better. Also, captive alligators will come right up to the fence when people are around. However, the wild alligators seem to take little notice of me even when I am in their striking distance. I am sure this is because captive gators are fed by human hands, whereas it is illegal to feed a wild alligator since they become accustomed to the free food.
Today though I found another very large alligator laying under a bridge. I really have no explanation for why gators enjoy being under the bridge. Maybe it is just a cooler place for them to lay out. Other than that, all alligators today seemed to be hanging out in the plants and not in the open water.
Today was another great day! It’s hard to believe I am already halfway through my Magellan and my time in Florida!
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Alligator walking after a wrestling show. Day 12
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3 - 4 year old alligators eating some treats on day 12!
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Day 12: Thursday June 1, 2017
So today was by far the best day of my trip so far because I finally got to work directly with captive alligators at Everglades Alligator Farm. I met a trainer here named Ben and he was wonderful to work with. Ben was very knowledgeable about alligators and was happy to have me help with some of the younger alligators.
Upon arriving at the park, I first took an amazing airboat ride into wetlands that barely had an water in them. It was so interesting that the boat was even able to maneuver on the grasses. On this airboat tour I was able to see some wild alligators swimming quite fast. They would constantly go from one side of the river to the other in order to avoid the boat.
After the air boat tour was over, I went to an alligator wrestling show in which Ben was the wrestler in the ring with the alligator. After the show, Ben enlisted my help in holding a baby alligator named Little Prince. This was so people could come up and pet him or get a picture with him. When I was done, I was given the opportunity to take a selfie with Little Prince which was the highlight of my day, because who doesn’t want to take a selfie with a baby alligator!?
Following the alligator wrestling show, I went with Ben as he prepared for an alligator feeding. At the park, they have a very large mating pool with over two hundred alligators inside. Some of the alligators are absolutely massive, some reaching up to 13.5 feet in length! These captive alligators seem to be a lot more active. I assume this is because they have some much room in the mating pool in which they can swim or walk around.
After the feeding show, I walked with Ben to check out all of the baby alligators that are held at the far corner of the park. These babies ranged in age from new hatchlings, to five years old. I got to feed some them and really observed how they acted around each other.
Today was amazing! I’m so excited to go back to the farm later this week!
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