Reptile Wranglers

BY GENE HUGHES As Featured in the Beaumont Journal June 28-July 4, 2006

This is the first of a two-part series.

"There's a gator in the bushes, he's calling my name

And a sayin' 'Come on boy, you better make it back home again.'

There's many roads I've traveled - they all kinda look the same.

There's a gator in the bushes, Lord, he's calling my name."

Gator Country - Molly Hatchet

There's definitely a gator in the bushes of Fannett, his name is "Big Al"and at 13 feet, four inches, he's a living example that everything's bigger in Texas

Al's habitat is Gator Country, an alligator theme park built on the remnants of a dilapidated alligator breeding farm that has been turned into a tourist attraction by Gary Saurage and his partners.

"This whole place was horrible," Saurage said. "All the ponds were just thick with lilly pads and were so drained down, and there were only a couple of alligators here - it was just a horrible situation. And I thought, "You know, this thing sits right on Interstate 10. If you came in here and spent some money, I believe people would come."

With hard work and more than a few greenbacks (both monetary and amphibian), Saurage and his co-owners have put together an appealing attraction, both entertaining and educational.

"We start our shows with the babies, then we go to where all the four-foot alligators are," he said."We get in there and show the people where the strike zones are - if you're standing in the wrong spot, you're gonna get tagged - we talk about how quick they are, jaw pressure. We show people their agility, their speed. We describe the hibernation process and egg development."

Once done with the juveniles, where patrons can feed the reptile hot dogs on fishing line, the tour proceeds to holding pens which house two large alligator snapping turtles.Apart from the Big Al Show, Saurage says that the turles is a patron favorite.They bear alligator bite marks, and one is missing back feet, courtesy of Big Al.

"They're very interesting animals." he said. "The jaws of one of these babies are like metal shears. Anything they get hold of, they're keeping."

The guided visit - no one goes anywhere without a park attendent - then advances to the large pond, which has an elavated walkway, from which visitors can feed the larger adults from a safe vantage point.

During this portion of the show, Saurage and members of the Gator Country team, with little or no protective gear, will walk out to the end of a surface-level deck and hand-feed the large reptiles, even going so far as to slap the jagged toothed beasts on the snout - mere inches from the possibility of severe injury. There's even a monorail by which a staffmember will swing out across the gator-filled waters.

"For safety reasons, you have to have two people out there," he said. "One has to have a stick, because you'll be on the end of that deck, and they'll get up in the middle and you won't have anywhere to go. That gets pretty tricky.

Saftey is paramount at Gator Country. Guests are allowed to handle the smaller reptiles, but ones that have had their jaws tied shut. Signs that warn of potential danger are everywhere, and with the summer nesting season in full swing, extra precautions are being taken.

"You see all these signs that say, "Do not touch the fence." With these females nesting, I'm going to be on the microphone a lot more telling the parents to watch more closely. As a matter of fact, I'm going to put up a barrier (around the fence where a rather aggressive female is gaurding her eggs) over there. I don't need anybody back there. She'll come all the way out (of the water), hissing. She's completely ready to attack, there's no doubt about it. It's going to be tricky now, doing these shows."

Then comes the feature attraction of the park, the Big Al Show, where patrons are introduced to the facility's star. At 13feet, four-inches, Al is Texas' largest American Alligator in captivity. During this portion of the show, patrons are encouraged to call the monstrous reptile from the depths, to see him up close and personal. Once he's out of the water, Saurage demonstrates the animal's poweful jaw capabilities by holding them shut.

Suarage, who used to hunt alligators with clients from all over the world for a living, has changed his tune from killing to showing.

"I don't like to kill them anymore," he said. "It's no fun. I'm not against it, by any means. I'm a big-time hunter. I just don't find hunting them exciting anymore."

And what took the thrill out of it for him?

"Big Al, no doubt about it. That animal is a survivor. I don't know how he lived in this place, abandoned, for eight years."

On this particular day, Al is showing off for the children of the Little Red Schoolhouse in Anahuac. Youngsters who had been crowding the fenceline are taken aback as the big fella emerges from the water. Saurage tosses a chicken into the gaping jaws, which come together with an explosive pop, and the children jump with fear and excitement.

"It never ceases to give me a chill every time he does that," Saurage said.

It's evident that the staff loves their prize attraction, but that love is tempered by a healthy respect for what he can do.

"People say, 'You trained Big Al,'"Saurage said."You can't train an alligator.You can get them used to repetition from feeding them, but they aren't going to roll over for you.

"I made a full-sized dummy, and I pulled Big Al up there during a show and I fed him. I tipped this thing over like I fell next to him, and that answered everybody's question. He hit it twice, and after the second bite he drug it in the water. That's all I needed to know. His forward and backward speed has slowed, but his head speed is lightening quick and that tail's amazing."

When an alligator strikes, it uses its powerful tail to bring the prey closer to its mouth. Sarauge can attest to Al's tail speed first-hand, having been knocked into the air by the reptile's propulsion the second day the park was open.

"I was lucky," he said. "He didn't knock me down to where he could get at me. That scared me. But he's not being mean. It's just instinct, and you can't change that

"I won't deal with him in the water. You have to pick your battles. He's just too powerful. We put him on an 850-pound scale, and he took it all the way.What he truly weighs, I don't know. I tell everybody he weighs 1,000 pounds and if you don't believe it, you can weigh him."

Visitors can also take it easy at the visitors center, which sells Gator Country memorablia, as well as choose from a menu that includes Cajun food, shrimp, po-boys and naturally, alligator.

"We're very lucky in that we have a very, very experienced cook, who was working at a restaurant that burned down, and she came to us," Saurage said. "She's bringing her customers from where she was, and that helps a lot."

Saurage estimates that approximately $250,000 has been put into Gator Country thus far, with another $400,000 by the time it's all said and done. There are plans to put in a restaurant, surrounded by a gator filled moat (patrons will be protected by cyclone fencing).

"So far, with the way it's going now, we're doing good. The heat is slowing things down a little bit, but in Southeast Texas, you can't do anything about that. We started our business plan based on two cars an hour. The field trips in May were great, and we've got day cares coming every day.

As the word about Gator Country continues to spread, Saurage and the staff continue to enjoy showing and telling people about Southeast Texas' reptilian residents.

"We're here to teach people about the alligators we live with, and I think when people come here, they'll see that," Saurage said.."It's the people and their reaction, putting on the show... it's a lot of fun, educating people. I hope it turns out to be all that, because for me, it's a dream."

Gator Country is located off Interstate 10 at the 383 exit. Summertime hours are Tuesday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 7 a.m. Shows open at noon, 2 and 4 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children.

For more information, call 794-WILD.