New West has an excellent article (and photos) by Ted Alvarez about Colorado's San Luis Valley. In this piece, the first installment of a series, Alvarez gets up close and personal with the residents of a gator farm, and those who wrangle the reptiles.
Jay Young, 27, the son of Colorado Gators founders Erwin and Lynne, holds several gator wrestling titles and has spent his entire life wrangling the massive reptiles. The city of Los Angeles recently hired him to attempt to remove a released pet gator from a public lake, and rumors abound that he’s taken a few “meetings” with Hollywood since his celebrated visit made local and national news. When I finally catch this wiry, muddy bayou man sauntering towards me, with a cigarette dangling from his lower lip and stringy hair in his face, it’s easy to see why.“I learned to handle ‘em when I was small and they were small,” he drawls sleepily. “I mean, I got bit a few times, and each time I learned not to what I did again.” When prodded, he proceeds to name off his injuries nonchalantly, as if ticking off items on his Thursday grocery list. “A 6-footer–Tinkerbell–got my arm,” he says, pointing to a lengthy scar on his ropy forearm. “I let my arms get to far out to the side. Three fingers got crushed and held in a big one’s jaws…teething, I guess.”
Link (Thanks, Jonathan Weber!)
