Meet the Baby Gator From the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary
Mike from the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary is here to talk about how we thrive and can co-exist with various reptiles. Learn more at https://phoenixherp.com
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Well, here we are.
00:00 Yeah, OK.
00:01 Alligators have been getting a bad rap lately in the news,
00:04 from, of course, stealing gator wrangler poles,
00:08 to attacking people, and stuff like that, right?
00:11 Well, Michael is here to shine a light
00:14 on the crocodilian community.
00:16 They've been misunderstood.
00:17 Thank you for joining us from the Phoenix Herpetological.
00:19 Thank you guys for having me out.
00:20 Yeah, it's so nice to be back again.
00:22 I know, Brad, you were saying you really
00:24 wanted to meet a baby gator.
00:25 Yes.
00:26 So--
00:26 It's your moment.
00:27 Yeah, it's your lucky day.
00:28 This is Gord.
00:29 He is a baby American alligator who actually was
00:32 surrendered to our facility.
00:34 So this was once an illegal pet.
00:37 All crocodilians are legal to own as pets in Arizona.
00:40 And for good reason, they don't make very good pets.
00:42 Even the smaller ones can get up to five to six feet long.
00:46 So they really aren't manageable animals.
00:47 They really are kind of a zoo animal.
00:49 But yeah, alligators and crocodiles, really
00:52 one of the big reasons our facility is around
00:54 is to educate people about these reptiles
00:56 and why they're so important to our natural heritage
00:59 and why they're also just such awesome animals.
01:01 As you can see, Gord is a really, really cute little
01:04 alligator right here.
01:05 Do you want to hold him, Brad?
01:06 I don't want to hold him.
01:07 OK.
01:08 You can pet him.
01:09 I know better.
01:09 I will pet him in-- yes, in just a moment.
01:11 Oh, yeah, please.
01:12 And don't tell him that you have the boots made out
01:14 of his cousin.
01:15 Oh, yeah.
01:15 No, that's--
01:16 No, that's illegal.
01:18 That's illegal.
01:19 But let's talk, Mike, about, of course,
01:21 we see the alligators in the news
01:24 because it's kind of like almost where people
01:26 are taking over their areas.
01:28 But also, they're being pushed out of their own home
01:30 by anacondas and pythons that people have
01:33 let loose down in Florida.
01:34 So that's why they're kind of moving into those areas.
01:36 Am I right?
01:37 So, yes, you definitely touched on a couple important facts
01:41 within this animal's habitat.
01:43 Florida is definitely riddled with invasive species
01:46 of reptiles.
01:46 They have Burmese pythons.
01:48 I've even been talking to some colleagues recently who said
01:50 they've been seeing wild Nile crocodiles and saltwater
01:54 crocodiles, which definitely can become
01:57 competition for these animals.
01:58 And, of course, we always have to be mindful about development
02:02 because these animals, they belong there
02:04 in these natural ecosystems.
02:06 The American alligator was once very much imperiled.
02:10 During the mid-20th century, there
02:12 was less than, I believe, 40,000 to 50,000 alligators.
02:15 But now there's maybe a million.
02:17 So it's really important that we stay
02:19 mindful about the conservation of these animals
02:21 in the future.
02:22 Now, I understand you guys are trying
02:23 to get a certain crocodylian for your sanctuary
02:28 to educate people, but also for you guys
02:30 to help the species along.
02:32 Absolutely.
02:32 That's right.
02:33 So for the last seven years, we have
02:34 been working intensively on receiving six Indian gharial
02:39 and six Indian muggers crocs from a facility in India.
02:42 This would make us the second facility in the United States
02:46 to have every species of crocodilian
02:48 on Earth in our collection.
02:49 So it's really big for us.
02:50 It's definitely a point of pride for everyone
02:53 here in Phoenix as well.
02:54 We have the largest collection of reptiles
02:57 in the country, over 1,500.
02:59 So it's just another feather in our cap.
03:01 And of course, with the success that we've
03:02 been having with our crocodilian breeding programs,
03:05 we really would hope the same thing for these animals
03:07 and that we could produce them here in captivity.
03:09 Does this guy like to be pet?
03:11 Would he enjoy a pet?
03:12 Or is that going to be like him?
03:13 Oh, yeah.
03:14 We definitely have discretion as far as choosing seasoned--
03:16 Can I give him a little pet?
03:18 Yeah, absolutely.
03:18 Right here.
03:19 You can go for it.
03:19 He's going to like it.
03:20 Well, you know, these are seasoned educational animals.
03:23 They do this all the time, kids' birthday parties,
03:25 events at our facility.
03:27 That's another thing you can do, actually, to support us
03:29 is come out to our facility.
03:31 We have summer camps.
03:32 We have private tours and public tours of our facility.
03:36 We have a cappy bar experience.
03:37 There's a bunch of fun things to do
03:39 at the herpetological sanctuary.
03:41 Additionally, this upcoming-- in about a week or so,
03:44 we're going to have two of our croc walk events, which
03:46 are going to be live crocodilian feeding.
03:48 So really cool.
03:48 And let's remind people, the reason
03:49 why you have the tape on there is
03:51 because this is a young croc.
03:52 So he kind of like-- almost like we talk about with snakes
03:55 and scorpions, when they're young,
03:56 they don't know their ability.
03:58 They don't know their training, how it works and stuff.
04:00 So that's why you guys are kind of like working with him.
04:02 So he knows when to have his mouth open, when to be smart,
04:05 not to bite at things and stuff like that.
04:07 Well, I wouldn't want to be on the mouth end of any crocodile.
04:10 And we certainly wouldn't want to jeopardize
04:13 anyone's fingers here.
04:14 Thank you, Gord.
04:15 He's very chill, Gord.
04:16 Oh, super chill.
04:17 Oh, yeah, they are.
04:17 Super duper chill.
04:18 We had a fun ride here.
04:19 Yeah.
04:20 Yeah, I heard you were in traffic.
04:21 Yes.
04:22 Yeah, traffic was crazy.
04:23 But we made it here nonetheless.
04:25 Yeah.
04:26 But yeah, this is a precaution we
04:28 use for any event where we bring an alligator
04:31 or any crocodilian.
04:32 You know, just at the end of the day,
04:34 it avoids anything unnecessary happening.
04:36 Exactly.
04:36 That's very important.
04:37 And again, too, what's amazing is that--
04:41 like I said, I love crocodiles and alligators.
04:43 And one thing is, they don't go looking to attack people.
04:45 That's one people have to understand.
04:46 When they sit with their mouth open,
04:48 they're actually cooling theirself a little bit.
04:50 And then that's when someone's like, oh, let me go mess
04:52 with him.
04:52 And that's not the best thing.
04:53 Does that work?
04:54 Because I've been pretty hot lately, too.
04:55 I'm just like, ah, I've got to cool down.
04:57 Well, luckily, we have sweat glands, Teresa.
04:59 Thank you.
05:00 Good point.
05:00 Good point.
05:01 Rub that in.
05:02 For sure.
05:04 Definitely, I mean, I would say between crocodiles
05:06 and alligators, for the most part,
05:08 alligators are very placid in comparison to crocodiles.
05:12 Crocodiles in the wild, you definitely
05:13 don't want to get into a lake where
05:14 there's going to be a saltwater crocodile or a Nile crocodile.
05:17 Very aggressive animals, for sure.
05:19 I like it.
05:19 Mike, this is awesome.
05:21 School is back in session, but what a great way
05:23 to take a field trip out to, of course, the sanctuary.
05:26 How would people do that?
05:27 So I would recommend going to our website.
05:29 We have public tours, private tours all the time.
05:32 And we also invite schools out for field trips.
05:35 We do that.
05:36 We can service that, all of those needs, for sure.
05:38 I like it.
05:39 All right.
05:39 One more pet from me.
05:40 Absolutely.
05:41 Thank you so much.
05:41 I got so much of that.
05:42 He's really a beautiful baby.
05:44 Oh, yes.
05:45 And he'll be a beautiful adult one day, too.
05:47 How big?
05:48 These guys, adults can get over 10 feet long.
05:50 Wow, that's small.
05:51 Yeah, yeah.
05:51 That's nothing.
05:52 I've ridden sharks before.
05:54 Yeah.
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