A woman has shared the dangers that come with the job after opening up about her life as an alligator wrestler.

Gabby Scampone ditched her city life in New York to look after gators in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The 22-year-old rescues the animals from trappers – and the giant reptiles pay her back in kisses.

But while Gabby has a great relationship with her alligators, she says there are obvious risks that come with the job.

‘Whenever you are working with an animal there are risks, especially with a large predator like this that has so many teeth,’ she said.

‘You can lose your hand, you can lose fingers. He can rip your arm off, they are no joke.’

As a volunteer at Everglades Holiday Park, Gabby performs daily wrestling shows with alligators in front of a packed audience.

But is is her photos and videos on Instagram that have made her something of a social media star.

And her fans are shocked at just how close she gets the creatures.

‘A lot of people, 95 per cent, think that the alligators are going to chase and eat and kill them,’ Gabby said.

‘But they are not going to kill you and attack you for no reason.

‘They don’t want anything to do with you.’

Scampone spends her days moving alligators that have invaded back gardens and local lakes into places that are safer for them and the residents nearby.

She said: ‘When we go and trap alligators, they are nuisance alligators. A nuisance alligator is any alligator that has been deemed as a threat to people or a threat to a livestock.

‘So sometimes they are in swimming pools or on a golf course, a lot of the time people just don’t want them in their backyard, in their canal or pond.

‘They are afraid of them, so we go and we save them.’

She says most people who trap alligators don’t actually rescue the animals – they catch them and kill them for money.

‘It is sad removing them from the only place they know as home. But if we don’t do it, other trappers are going to,’ Gabby said.

‘I see myself trapping in the future, rescuing alligators and I’m planning on keeping all ten of my fingers.’

Source:
courtesy of E!ONLINE

by Zoe Drewett

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]