Weird-News: Alligator Pool Parties

[ARNie]

I suppose Alligator Bounce-House Parties wouldn't have worked as well...

Bob Barrett gives Florida kids pool parties they’ll never forget — because they get to swim with real live alligators.

Jump houses? Pizza parties? Boring, says Barrett.

“You jump for a while and that’s it, we’ve had that party before,” he told the Daily News. “Clown party, Chuck E. Cheese party, they’ve all been done.”

Barrett, who runs Alligator Attractions in Madeira Beach — where visitors get to hold gators — was already bringing his reptiles around to birthday parties when he was inspired to take the next step.

“We would do [an alligator demonstration] at someone’s house and they would have a pool,” he explained. “And I said, you know, ‘Hey, let’s put ‘em in the pool.’”

His star gators — Burger, Kermit and Fido — have their mouths taped shut, and kids get a lesson in alligator safety before they join the reptiles in the water.

Barrett says his gators are well-behaved around children — and smart. “They get held at [Alligator Attractions] a lot, and they realize if they do this they’ll get a big food reward.”

They even play Marco Polo, though Barrett admitted that he’s actually the one responding to the kids’ cries of “Marco.”

He said he’s done dozens of alligator pool parties, and while the kids love them, not everyone is as thrilled.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Gary Morse said his organization has received phone calls from several people concerned about kids and alligators mingling.

But “it appears as though this gentleman has a permit to exhibit, so it doesn’t look like it’s anything illegal,” he told the Daily News.

From NY Dailynews:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.1167820

[cresent34]

I don't know who I should worry about more...the kids or the gators?

[Clone]

Just another day in Florida.