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Hunting for a job during a weak economy? There's always alligator wrestling

By Daniel Chang, McClatchy Newspapers, Source: MCT News Service

MIAMI _ Until now, alligator wrestling might have been considered a poor career choice. The pay is not steady, the travel is exhausting, and the occupational hazards are apparent.

Now a group of alligator wrestlers say they want to change all that, except for the hazardous part, which they say isn't so scary at all, by forming the Freestyle Alligator Wrestling Competitions (FAWC) _ a professional organization, with annual meets, that promotes the activity as a legitimate sport.

To help get the point across _ and to promote an alligator wrestling competition at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino this weekend _ James Holt dove into a pool with an 8-foot-long alligator on Tuesday afternoon.

Holt, who said he is 6-foot-1-inch tall and weighs 350 pounds, made the point that size does not give him an advantage. Mental acuteness does.

"The hardest part is making sure you're in the right frame of mind," he said. "You gotta be in the moment."

Then he pointed out that the alligator's body is made up of more than 50 percent muscle, while guessing his body is probably closer to 15 percent muscle.

"That alligator is a lot stronger than I am," Holt said.

Minutes later, Holt dove head first into the pool, still wearing his green cargo shorts and yellow button-down shirt.

The alligator, lying at the bottom of the pool, hardly budged.

Holt, 31, waded slowly toward the gator, explaining that he always approaches one face first. Then he jabbed at the water, and grabbed the reptile by a flap of skin under its jaw. The gator splashed around, rolled free of Holt's grip and sidled away to a corner of the pool.

Holt then approached the gator from behind, grabbing it by the tail. The gator didn't react as Holt pulled it toward him and slowly slid his hand under its jaw, where he once again grabbed the flap of skin, then the top of the gator's mouth, and pried it open.

Holt poked his head into the gator's mouth, and then pulled out.

After a few more tricks, Holt broke down the art of alligator wrangling and anticipating the reptile's sudden movements.

"You have to feel the body," Holt said, "and feel when they're going to explode."

He urged gentle handling _ "The gator won't feel you as a threat," he said _ and anticipated great potential for professional alligator wrestling.

"This is going to be a sport that hopefully goes to a global level," he said.

Holt's worldwide aspirations begin with this weekend's competition, the first one sanctioned under the FAWC.

Organizers expect at least 10 alligator wrestlers, though registration closes Thursday, and prospective wrestlers must demonstrate experience handling gators. Wrestlers will compete for more than $10,000 in prizes, including a $5,000 first prize pot.

Wrestlers will compete in 10-minute timed events and be judged in six categories: aggressiveness of the gator, difficulty of the move, style, appearance, showmanship and water wrangling.

Wrestlers will draw straws for gators, which will range in size from 8- to 9-feet-long and weigh about 200 pounds each.

Jimmy Riffle, 24, of Fort Lauderdale plans to compete this weekend, and hinted that he has a few "secret tricks" up his sleeve. He offered prospective reptile wranglers some tips.

Number one rule, he said: "You cannot be afraid to get bit."

Austin Billie, 27, of Hollywood said he learned how to wrestle alligators about two years ago.

The most important lesson he's learned, he said: "Know your limits." Billie said wrestlers are trained to be vigilant of the gator's "areas of danger," which is pretty much anywhere near its mouth.

Billie also envisioned bigger things for alligator wrestling. He said he found on the Internet a website for an alligator wrestling school, "someplace where it snows," and guessed that must reflect a growing popular interest.

For now, he said of alligator wrestling, "you can make a living at it, but it takes a lot of travel."

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(c) 2010, The Miami Herald.

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Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099):

	     ALLIGATOR-WRESTLING