They have a very low metabolism. I don't believe you could sedate them. Besides, you don't really want to sedate them because it's not going to be a good show gator if he's just lying there half-dead. You want the most active gator possible. You try not to overuse him, so he doesn't lame out on you.

368

I've got a bunch of holes in them. You're guaranteed to get bit if you take this on as a profession. That's a fact.

229

They'd catch them alive and keep them alive until they were ready to eat them because they didn't have refrigeration, ... They always had meat handy with an alligator in the back yard.

189

I had one spin around and swim right at me and I kind of did a dance over the top of him, ... I don't know exactly what took place because you can't really see once that water starts splashing around. After I got away from him, I recaptured him.

175

Some never tame down, some will half-tame down and some will tame down to where it's relatively safe, ... If you're feeling a little sluggish yourself, you don't grab the meanest one. If you feel spunky, you grab the mean one.

167

Programs like SPIN provide an important opportunity for students with mobility impairments to offer each other peer support. These programs can also be important vehicles for advocacy.

160

It's more dangerous ... It's their element. They're quicker than you are in the water. You can't really see what's going on very quickly. I swim straight down. I've got to wrap my legs around his tail and grab him by the neck and hope he doesn't spin out of my hands.

156

I've never got beside one and run with it. But usually when they make a burst for the water, it's lightning fast.

120

As long as it can sustain me, I'll continue doing it, ... I like working with animals. I like teaching people. And I love the Everglades, and gators are a main part of the Everglades.

111