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Alligator Shows on the Decline in Florida
Sunday, July 08, 2007
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Wanted: Thrill-seeking animal lovers with cool
heads and quick reflexes. Must have finesse, agility and high tolerance for
pain - and low pay.
Alligator handlers across South Florida said there is simply less money,
glamour and interest in the profession today than in its glory days, when
crowds flocked to roadside shows.
"I believe gator wrestlers are definitely a dying breed," said James
Peacock, wildlife manager at Native Village in Hollywood. "We're fading out.
Just like the cowboys and Indians of yesteryear, or the Japanese samurai."
While there are no exact figures, no one disputes that it's the alligator
wrestlers, not the gators, that are an endangered species.
On a good day, Peacock said he teaches a mere handful of tourists about
Florida wildlife. Years ago, he said, those shows drew more than 400
visitors and he could make about $500 a day in tips.
Today's tourists would rather ride on Everglades air boats and view wildlife
in its natural habitat, said Nicki E. Grossman, president of the Greater
Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"You have to get real. You have to give someone an actual experience, a
relationship with the destination," Grossman said. "And I think we've come a
long way from the days when alligator wrestling was the big draw."
Daytona Beach resident Bobby Smith, who watched a show at the Everglades
Alligator Farm with his family, said he had never seen the tourist staple
until this summer even though he lives in Florida.
"I think they're just getting crowded out," Smith said.
Peacock said television shows and Internet videos about animals have had a
big effect.
"The lessons are being taught in their own home, without harming any
animals. So that's the positive side," Peacock said. "The negative side is,
did I waste the last 17 years of my life learning how to do this?"
Jeremy Possman, 25, learned how to handle alligators from a member of the
Miccosukee Indian tribe. He said some Miccosukee parents used to hope their
children could handle the animals because a good show could secure wealth
for the family.
"A long time ago, especially when the tourism of Florida was skyrocketing,
most alligator handlers, they could pull a good amount of money in a week
just off of tips," Possman said. "Nowadays, it's not as good."
Injuries once were commonplace in the gator wrestling arenas, and sometimes
were considered an asset.
"If you do get bit, a lot of times that just means more business," Possman
said. "Because they're going to come back to see if it's going to happen
again."
Former Seminole Indian tribal chairman and alligator wrestler James Billie
lost a finger to an alligator, and still keeps the finger in a jar at his
house.
Billie said the shows have died out along with the Indians' change in
lifestyle.
"We don't have to hunt anymore," Billie said. "We eat bologna sandwiches
like the rest of the world."
None of the talk of injuries or of declining interest fazes Scott Cohen, a
gangly 13-year-old with floppy dark hair and a nagging desire to handle the
animals. Scott is the head volunteer at Native Village and has been training
as a wrestler by using smaller gators with taped mouths.
Scott said he hopes to someday open an animal park, and is fully committed
to alligator wrestling whether the tourism market wants it or not.
"As long as I have all 10 fingers I'm good," he said. "As long as I have all
my body parts, I'm fine."
Alligator Shows on the Decline in Florida
Sunday, July 08, 2007
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Wanted: Thrill-seeking animal lovers with cool
heads and quick reflexes. Must have finesse, agility and high tolerance for
pain - and low pay.
Alligator handlers across South Florida said there is simply less money,
glamour and interest in the profession today than in its glory days, when
crowds flocked to roadside shows.
"I believe gator wrestlers are definitely a dying breed," said James
Peacock, wildlife manager at Native Village in Hollywood. "We're fading out.
Just like the cowboys and Indians of yesteryear, or the Japanese samurai."
While there are no exact figures, no one disputes that it's the alligator
wrestlers, not the gators, that are an endangered species.
On a good day, Peacock said he teaches a mere handful of tourists about
Florida wildlife. Years ago, he said, those shows drew more than 400
visitors and he could make about $500 a day in tips.
Today's tourists would rather ride on Everglades air boats and view wildlife
in its natural habitat, said Nicki E. Grossman, president of the Greater
Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"You have to get real. You have to give someone an actual experience, a
relationship with the destination," Grossman said. "And I think we've come a
long way from the days when alligator wrestling was the big draw."
Daytona Beach resident Bobby Smith, who watched a show at the Everglades
Alligator Farm with his family, said he had never seen the tourist staple
until this summer even though he lives in Florida.
"I think they're just getting crowded out," Smith said.
Peacock said television shows and Internet videos about animals have had a
big effect.
"The lessons are being taught in their own home, without harming any
animals. So that's the positive side," Peacock said. "The negative side is,
did I waste the last 17 years of my life learning how to do this?"
Jeremy Possman, 25, learned how to handle alligators from a member of the
Miccosukee Indian tribe. He said some Miccosukee parents used to hope their
children could handle the animals because a good show could secure wealth
for the family.
"A long time ago, especially when the tourism of Florida was skyrocketing,
most alligator handlers, they could pull a good amount of money in a week
just off of tips," Possman said. "Nowadays, it's not as good."
Injuries once were commonplace in the gator wrestling arenas, and sometimes
were considered an asset.
"If you do get bit, a lot of times that just means more business," Possman
said. "Because they're going to come back to see if it's going to happen
again."
Former Seminole Indian tribal chairman and alligator wrestler James Billie
lost a finger to an alligator, and still keeps the finger in a jar at his
house.
Billie said the shows have died out along with the Indians' change in
lifestyle.
"We don't have to hunt anymore," Billie said. "We eat bologna sandwiches
like the rest of the world."
None of the talk of injuries or of declining interest fazes Scott Cohen, a
gangly 13-year-old with floppy dark hair and a nagging desire to handle the
animals. Scott is the head volunteer at Native Village and has been training
as a wrestler by using smaller gators with taped mouths.
Scott said he hopes to someday open an animal park, and is fully committed
to alligator wrestling whether the tourism market wants it or not.
"As long as I have all 10 fingers I'm good," he said. "As long as I have all
my body parts, I'm fine."