A Concise History of Alligator Wrestling
Maggie Koerth-Baker is a guest blogger on Boing Boing. A freelance science and health journalist, Maggie lives in Minneapolis, brain dumps on Twitter, and writes quite often for mental_floss magazine.
Why It's Hard to Find Good Gator Wrestling Help These Days
In 2000, members of the Seminole tribe near Hollywood, Florida put an ad in the local paper. They were looking for a new alligator wrestler. Mano-y-gator conflict is nothing new to the Seminole. Hand-caught gators were a traditional food source. 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). This wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Wrestling alligators for the benefit of white tourists used to be one of the few Seminole-friendly job markets in Florida. 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. And thus, the newspaper ad.
Did I Mention it Doesn't Pay Well?
Answering the ad, and ultimately winning the gig, was 32-year-old Greg Long. By November 10, 2000, Long was wrestling alligators for $8 an hour, the going rate for gator-wrestlers.Tips are recommended.
And That You're Gonna Get Bit?
The "wrestling" in alligator wrestling is something of a misnomer. 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. Easy! Along the way, they perform tricks and explain interesting tidbits about about the animal's behavior and biology. Look at that guy in the photo. Doesn't he look like he loves educating the public?
Despite not being nearly as violent as it sounds, all alligator wrestlers will most likely be bitten at some point. The job requires strength and timing. One wrong move and your arm or leg could end up in the Old Alligator Wrestler's Retirement Villa*. Needless to say, it is not a sport for amateurs. In 2006, an alligator took down real-estate baron Ronald Bergeron after the land developer tried to wrestle a gator during a party. Bergeron was dragged underwater briefly before the other well-heeled (and more sober?) guests could free him. He survived, with a few shattered finger bones.
Again, there's more where this came from.
Image courtesy the delightfully named turtlemom4bacon.
*the alligator's stomach
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If I may be a Spanish grammar nerd for a moment: "mano y gator" would roughly mean "hand and gator" not "man and gator. The phrase "mano a mano" means "hand to hand" (mano = hand, NOT "man") and English speakers tend to mis-translate it as "man to man" or "man and man" (I hear "mano y mano" all time, which to my knowledge is not a valid Spanish idiomatic expression).
i worked near there & i was offered a job doing it & i wasn't even looking. there is a nice nature center 1 block south & across the street from the hard rock that has alligator wrestling & venomous snake show.it is called "nature center" or something. we had over 30 of our friends go & it was one of the most exiting things we have seen.
"Long was wrestling alligators for $8 an hour, the going rate for gator-wrestlers."
That's better pay than what the gator gets.
Actually the Seminole Hard Rock casinos have done more to prevent them seeking poorly paying (or for that matter any) jobs. Every member of the tribe gets a house and a yearly income higher than the average in Florida. This is just for being a Seminole. Crime and drug abuse are rampant. Of course the tribal leaders keep everyone in check by holding those payouts over their heads. This just means that no one is willing to speak out against the tribe. Higher education? Few of them even graduate high school.
Janet Reno's mother was a hard drinking, chain-smoking investigative reporter who also used to wrestle alligators. How awesome is that?
i used to do this at a little tourist trap in sarasota called 'jungle gardens'. it's all on video there now. yes, i was bitten...once. and back then, it was $5.15 hr. as a plus, the job involved allowing a 5+ foot diamondback rattlesnake bite a balloon out of my hand 4x a day as well! good times!
I would just like to thank you Maggie for bringing BoingBoing readers another top-notch article; this really makes this blog finally once again "A Directory of Wonderful Things".
Please stay on BoingBoing!
Yeah, but you get all the free Gatorade you can drink...
Minty: Wow! *bows and tips hat*
*(...or I guess that would have been more of a hat-removal thing.) Writes down on list of things to do: GET HAT*
Yeah, but you get all the free Gatorade you can drink...
I'm not even sure what that means now...
Good gravy! He's my name doppelganger!
I already know of a Greg Long Maverick's surf champion, a Greg Long Christian rock star, a Greg Long chronicler of all things Bigfoot & now a Greg Long Alligator Wrestler!
We Greg Long's clearly have it going on.
Hello, I think you would like this photo I took of a much younger gator wrestler in the Everglades. As I took this I was being fed fried alligator. It was great!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/63/191880574_0b6da0ed37.jpg
SFW I promise.
"wrestling". Of course. You strip down to minimal clothing and hurl yourself on the creatures naked back and then, passionately entwining your legs around its body you hug it tight and close and whisper softly in its ear while all the while wriggling, bucking, twisting and writhing about. Of course its "wrestling". Not that there's anything wrong with that. Wrestler.
Anon@~12: Is the guy in the photo wearing gorilla viewing glasses?
@12, you know, I must confess I've never gator-wrestled, but that photo with the young lad... one unbreakable rule of beasts is never take your eyes off them.
Maggie, you deserve to be a permanent member of BoingBoing. Your posts are fantastic.
@15, here is the full album. Believe me, the gator wanted nothing to do with him.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitescarfsyndrome/191880429/in/set-72157594202389569/
Thanks mods...I will sign up for an account now...
BACK IN THE 1973 I GOT A JOB IN FORT LAUDERDALE FLA AT A PLACE CALLED OCEAN WORLD ON 17TH CAUSEWAY.IT WAS 6 ACRES OF DOLPHIN SHOWS, SEA LIONS,GIFT SHOPS, SHARKS AND ALLIGATOR WRESTLING.MY FIRST JOB WAS AS A STAGE HAND . IT MEANT CUTTING FISH FOR THE SHOWS, HAND FEEDING SHARKS,AND CLEANING THE CAGES OUT.ONE DAY THE GUY THAT WRESTLED GATORS WAS HURT AND THE BOSS ASKED IF ANYONE WANTED TO TAKE HIS PLACE.LIKE A MORON I SAID YES.WELL BACK THEN I DID 4 SHOWS ADAY AT ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTS A SHOW.WELL HELL THAT WAS GOOD MONEY LOL .TO ALL THE PEOPLE I WORKED WITH AND THE DOLPHINS THE GATORS AND THE SHARKS ALL I CAN SAY IS IT WAS A GREAT TIME .WITH BEST WISHES MARVELOUS MIKE LOL
Mike,
Your caps lock is stuck. Normally I wouldn't approve a comment in all caps, but anyone who's wrestled an alligator gets one free pass.
@Takuan: There's nothing wrong with anything you said. Except that alligators don't have ears (for values equal to or greater than whisper-in-your).
@Maggie: Ur book. I boughted it.
@17 that pick-proof gator cage lock is certainly high tech.
indeed?
ALLIGATORS TUNED INTO WATER
Fiona Gowland
University of Aberdeen.
f.gowland@abdn.ac.uk
We all admire animals that can move with ease between air and water, but how do these creatures cope with the challenge of interpreting sounds transmitted through different media? Sound is a key sense in many animals, yet relatively little is known about how hearing sensitivity differs between environments. D. Higgs and his colleagues at the University of Maryland wondered how sensitive alligators are to sounds in water and air, and discovered that alligators hear well in both environments.
The ultimate response to all sound, whether detected in air or water, is driven by the stimulation of sensory hair cells in the inner ear, and creatures that are sensitive to airborne sounds process the sensory signals in the brain stem region of the brain. But how the sound is transmitted to the inner ear depends on the animal's situation. For example, humans are acutely sensitive to airborne sounds, but when submerged, noises that are carried through the water are deadened as they are transmitted to the inner ear through the skull.
However, alligators are perfectly happy lounging on riverbanks or skulking in water. Higgs explains that the alligator's ear and brain structures are perfectly adapted for hearing airborne sounds. But they spend significant amounts of time immersed in murky waters. Does this mean that their senses are equally sharp in both environments?
The scientists tested the hearing of eight young alligators, above and below the surface. They played the reptiles a series of tone pips that ranged in pitch from 100 to 8000 Hz, and tested the animal's sensitivity at each pitch by increasing the volume. The team measured the animal's responses to the sounds they heard by recording the neurological signals from the inner ear through electrodes placed beneath the reptile's skin.
Not surprisingly, the alligator's hearing in air was as good as most air-adapted species, including their close relatives, birds. But how well did the animal's respond to water-borne sounds? Amazingly the alligator's hearing under water was as good as that of goldfish, who are real hearing specialists amongst fish! Although the reptiles heard over a greater range in air than in water, peak sensitivities were around 800 Hz in both environments — these peaks correspond quite well to the range of "chirping" sounds made by hatchling alligators. Since these animals have no obvious specialisation for channelling underwater sound, it's likely that they hear underwater by conducting sound information to their ears through their skull bones. Whilst this possibility remains untested, Higgs' study successfully shows that alligators have managed to overcome the problems associated with hearing in two different media. This success may be worth remembering if you ever holiday in the Everglades!
References
Higgs, D. M., Brittan-Powell, E. F., Soares, D., Souza, M. J., Carr, C. E., Dooling, R. J. and Popper, A. N. (2002). Amphibious auditory responses of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). J. Comp. Physiol. A 188, 217 -223.[CrossRef]
I was in Orlando for Spring break and visited Gatorland.
It was awesome! Especially the handicapped alligators.
http://www.tian.cc/2009/03/gatorland-orlando-florida.html
@17 ANTINOUS
Seems to me that anyone named MARVELOUS MIKE who wrestled alligators probably speaks in all caps most of the time. I thought it was oddly appropriate.
I'll be the wet blanket and ask about animal cruelty.... seems like this is one of those positions that is best left unfilled.
We all know what happened to Steve Irwin. Wrestling reptiles for entertainment is karmically unsound.
Rays ain't reptiles. Blimey.
As for cruelty to gators... I've lived with a few reptiles in the menagerie and I am pretty sure you can be a very happy gator living on a farm and being wrestled with occasionally. So long as there is food, water, mud, other gators and no really overt cruelty I think a gator can be a happy, fulfilled creature. They routinely bite each other's legs off in the wild and have to work hard to get each meal.
When will the humans finally-f*king-ly leave animals alone?
This is cruelty.
Go wrestle another human, one with big teeth or something.
Cheers.
@ Takuan:
Having a few reptiles in a tank or their visiting your yard doesn't give you knowledge about them.
You're anthropomorphizing when you make decisions about what they might like or not; a weak approach that - if you were speaking to a wildlife biologist, let's say - would be easily squashed.
But if you did want to continue with your "crocs must like what I like" man's way of thinking then consider that, like many humans, maybe those crocs would rather be free, wild, and have to struggle than be kept by humans and subjected to wrestling matches with the freaky "higher species".
Honestly, we've got to be better than this. The reason our planet is in such poor shape is because of such human disregard. I am ashamed by this kind of behavior. People used to use Takuan's same line of reasoning about dolphins, until the Sea World "entertainers" started getting ulcers, and other stress-related illnesses. (And please don't start with the "dolphins are different" thing - that's also weak).
I think we have to stop pretending we know what animals are cool with, stop treating these kind of stories with disregard and humor, and leave wildlife where it belongs. And if the crocs chomp on each other's legs, so be it. But we don't have to use that as an excuse for humans to behave like ass*s.
And I don't doubt Takuan's gonna come back with a funky response. But I could care less. I just urge everyone to please consider that we may not know how awfully these animals might feel. And it's not our right to toy with them. Crocs may not be cute, fuzzy animals but please consider the option of giving them respect.
I was over at the Seminole reservation just a few weeks ago and they were having a gator wrestling contest and there seemed to be no shortage of participants.
Maybe all that media attention in 2000 was just more of that fine Florida roadside marketing and you guys fell for it.
By the way....it really would be a great idea to compile a real (not so concise) history of gator wrestling.
I knew I remembered this article from a few years ago:
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/general/news/story?id=2931719
and an article about Greg long on CNN from 2000.
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/CAREER/trends/12/11/gatorman/
Please cite sources if not the result of original research.