On our last day in Orlando, we stopped in for an afternoon of Gatorland!
If your are weary of large bone crushing jaws equipped with flesh piercing teeth…you could not even get in the front door…
And once inside you better keep your fingers to yourself, or else you might go home looking like a veteran maintenance man. 😀
They also had a bunch of colorful birds… Apparently these little buggers will bite you pretty hard too. I did not get close enough to find out… 😀
But the least colorful, yet most intriguing, were the white alligators! Can you imagine seeing one of these bad boys running at you leading with their mouths wide open salivating as they imagine what you would taste like?
They are not albino, they are leucistic… They still have skin pigment around their mouths and their tails. Albinos are known for their red eyes due to lack of pigmentation. The leucistic alligators have bright blue eyes…
Don’t let them baby blues fool you… 😀 These guys are just as big and dangerous as the colored variety. 😀
We got to see some crazy dude wrestle an alligator too!
After watching for a few minutes, Ace and I decided it would not be that hard to wrestle an alligator if we worked together. 😀
I distracted the gator by making hand bag jokes about his mother. Ace ran up and jumped on the gator’s back, riding him like a rodeo cowboy. After Ace had the reptile worn out, I jumped on the gator’s back too and subdued him by grabbing his jaws…nearly losing a finger…and pulling his head back till he tapped out in submission.
Then I yelled, “Ace, look over at Momma so she can take your picture!”
And there he is the 2 Year Old Gator Wrestler.  Sitting proud atop his defeated opponent!
What are you talking about? Tape? Where? I don’t see any tape around that gator’s mouth? That must be a glitch in the photo… 😀
I would love to take my kids to that! They’d eat it up!
Well not literally, but you know what I mean! 🙂
.-= Shelle-BlokThoughts´s last blog ..Flirt! =-.
@Shelle-BlokThoughts: It really was an interesting adventure. Ace was probably too young to fully enjoy it, but kids about 4+ would get much more from the experience. 😀
Wow that’s a lot of animals that bite! Hopefully those gators don’t eat those birds!
.-= Baby Dad Chris´s last blog ..Birthing Positions for Laboring Mom =-.
@Baby Dad Chris: Actually the birds were stealing food from the alligators. They gave us hot dogs to throw to the alligators and the birds would swoop right in and steal it. Those birds have some brass ones. 😀
What great photos! It looks like you guys had a great time!!! I’m so proud to say I know REAL, TRUE alligator wrestlers!!! LOL!!!
@Amber: Ace will give you his autograph the next time he sees you. 😀
I had never heard the term leucistic before today. I would have said albino, but you’re right. The eyes are different. We were just in florida a few weeks ago, but we went to St Pete Beach. I considered stopping to see some alligators. Now I’m thinking I should have 🙂
.-= Keith Wilcox´s last blog ..Books to Read to Boys =-.
@Keith: It really was a good experience and is a great learning experience for the kids. Highly recommended place for sure….
Yeah, that looks a little crazy to me. I could never sit on top of an alligator- even if his mouth was tied. They look so mean. They freak me out!
.-= Susie´s last blog ..‘Tis the Season- Two =-.
@Susie: Yeah…the thing went kinda crazy right before we sat on it…the real wrestler guy had to calm it down. But once we got on top and pulled it’s head back it was fine… 😀
I love Gatorland! I am excited to take my kids there when they are old enough. The memories!
.-= Dad Blog´s last blog ..Oh My! Baby Boy Discovering Their Pee-Pee =-.
@DadBlog: It really was a good experience…just don’t pay for the trian ride…that was kind of a rip off. 😀
I don’t think I would have noticed the tape if you hadn’t said anything. I was sitting here thinking about how crazy you are!
@Momo: I fugured child services would have been calling if I did not mention it. 😀
.-= Jared´s last blog ..Two Year Old Wrestles Alligator! =-.
I went there as well and discovered the leucistic alligator. They are pretty crazy looking!
@Justin: Yeah, those thins kinda freaked me out. How would you like to meet them as you are walking through a swamp?