All right. Well, I'm with my beautiful bride, and this is really a big deal. This is I hate this. This is the first time we're going to feed alligators together. She's actually going to hold the uh camera. This is normally the part of the tour where I walk away cuz I get very nervous when you go in there. Well, we got to feed two raccoons to each of our alligators. Can I just ask you something? Yeah. What's the plan if they start eating you? Well, call 911 and get your cell phone. Okay, I have my cell phone. Oh my god. They're not going to

I'm not going to fight them though, just so you know. No, no, no. But they're already over there. They're already right there waiting. I see. So, I've got to be fast. That's the whole key with this because when they smell real food, real blood, they get excited. You're wearing flip flops, though. Yeah. Do you want to change to sneakers? No. All right. Here we go. All right. So, first things first, hun, take the camera. You are documenting everything. Don't lose sight of the action. Okay. I already have like butterflies in my stomach. I'm going to be

in front of you with this awesome the big bamboo stick. These are my bamboo stick. Bamboo. And uh basically this stick is a anti-alligator device. Is it though? Yeah. We need to see. So that is snaggle tooth. Yeah. All right. So, Snagles just gets the big one, but I want to have also a small one in my hand. Oh, here she comes. Don't worry about that. We don't need it. You don't need the bit the anti- alligator thing. Don't need it. We got to be fast. The key is to keep them. Oh, boy. Can't you just chuck it over? No. Come. You stand behind me. But don't worry about me. Just

do your thing. Don't just do your thing. Make sure you get the good stuff. Okay. But I'm not going in. Here he is. Come on, Snaggy. Oh, there comes somebody. Here come somebody. Oh gosh. Okay, here's another one. Oh my gosh. Get the guy. Get the thing quick. There it goes. I'm watching. Oh, there it goes. So, she's going to grab that one. Give me the pole. Okay, take this and I'll give you the pole. Oh my god. Give me the pole so I can give her the other one. What a chaotic scene. Thank you to all our loyal Patreon members out there who have helped to create an amazing reptile community online with us.

This week's shout out goes to Paul Brides. So crazy. Come on, babe. Quick. Give me the pole. Oh my god. Take the camera. Get in here. Get right here. I got to get this rat. Okay. Be careful on the thing. I'm watching them. I'm watching you. Okay, she's coming. Here she comes. Watch yourself. Oh jeez. Is she going to get me? No. Come here. Get close. Quick. Oh, she got it. Okay. Oh, that's a good girl. Okay, go. Oh, you did it, hun. Oh, you're so brave. Good girl. Yeah. Give her a big round of applause in the comments. Oh, I thought I'm round. Come on in. You've never been in. Come in. They're busy now. Come in. But

I'm good. Right here. No, get closer. I want you. Listen. Okay. I have to hold the stick, though. Okay. Hold the stick. I listen. I feel safer. So, where did the other person go? They went that way. She calls them persons. The alligators are persons to her. There is Snaggle. Snaggles is out there and he's got his food. She's got her food. So, she's not They're not interested in us at all. This is a big deal. This is the first time Kate's ever been in the enclosure. Come on, babe. I don't want you. Come on to the island. You I pro I would never bring you anywhere. But like,

come on. This is me. Look, I'm on the bridge. No. Get on the island. I want you to see this, hun. This is all about Come on, babe. Get over here. By all means, no. There's no alligators here. Let's go. I don't want to walk across this bridge. No thanks. They're fine. Look, they're both over there, hun. Go do what you're going to do. Get over here. There they go. There's Snaggletoothoth. And there's Dale. Get over here. I don't see her. She's over there. Come here. I'll get visual. Come here. She's right here. I'm I'm looking at her. There's Snaggletoothoth. There's

Dale. Come on, babe. I want you to see this. I don't want to get over here now. People are counting on your bravery. I'm This is very brave of me. Not brave enough. Come on to the island. Just get just come to the island. Get on the island. Come on. I'm not Don't say curse words. Get on the island, please. She's way over there. Look, they're both over there. She's got her food. She's She's coming. Yeah, because she wants to eat away from him. Yes, she's got food in her mouth. She wants nothing to do with you. Okay, come back. I want nothing

to do with you. Come back. No. Can you believe this, guys? I love that Kate's actually being somewhat brave today. But I really want to get her over here because I wanted to see that once the alligators have their food, they want nothing to do with me. From here, I have eyes. Yeah, but they're Come on, babe. Just do a little bit. Everyone will be so thrilled. I'm not forcing you. Next video. Okay. This is Look at her stance. Look at her stance, everybody. Look at her little bow-legged stance. She's got her bamboo. Very good for my first video. That's the first

time she's ever been inside Fred's lagoon. Yeah. So, that's a big deal. Next time, the next step will be the Hun. But I need to know that you can be there for me holding the camera. What I'm there for is calling 911. Hun, by the time you call 911, I'm done. Okay. But look, at least I know I will. What? Would you walk? Would you walk along here with me? No. That's even worse. I am happy where I am. Stand right there right now and then I'll let you go. Stand on the bridge. Two foot on the bridge. We're compromising. Yeah. Go in the middle of the bridge. This bridge

is going to break. It is not. Matt and I put this These bridges are Look how sturdy that bridge is. Come on. Stand right in the middle of the bridge. Stand in the middle of the bridge. It's chanky. It's It is a little chanky, but it's kind of goes with the whole vibe. What? She went Look, she's afraid of you. Yeah, she's scared of you. Better be. I got this bamboo. She's getting out of the water. Oh my god. Oh my god, this is so Oh my god, look at him go. He is getting out of water. That's exciting. I'm right here. All right, walk a little closer so you can see this awesomeness.

She's underwater right here. He's coming his way. No, there's a rabbit over there. She's fine. She's He's just out of the water all chilling. Oh my god, that's exciting. That is awesome. So, he'll probably just stay like this, hun, and just hold that for a while. Not him. I'm worried about Well, what are you worried about? Where? She's right here. I see her. She's behind this plant. I have visual on her. Come closer. It's really cool. Look, I'm on the island now. I know you are. Good job. Keep coming. Just come a little bit more. She's way over there. I did what you asked

me. I know you did. Now, come a little further. Do you remember when you were afraid to have the alligators? Tell everyone what happened when I said we were getting Fred's alligators. What? What happened? Crying and shaking. You're doing so good. You're on the island. I'm shaking. I can't. You're not shaking. You're just frozen. I'm literally My legs are shaking. You're good. The You're doing so good. They're They're both still over there. I got you. I promise I would jump in front of anything for you. All right. So, you're fine. Relax. Breathe. Just breathe. You're fine. You've been closer to alligators without even knowing. Okay.

Just relax. So, the first time Kate heard we were getting the alligators, what happened? What' you say? You started crying, right? I cried and I may have threatened as some sort of a separation or something. Yeah. And then what happened after we I was nervous. I did I could not envision this beautiful enclosure and I was scared they were just going to be roaming free or they you know we had children. They were young. I thought maybe you know a I'm sure people in the comments will agree that a normal woman would be a little concerned about having huge alligators but they worked

out. I love them. And I What's your favorite thing that they do? I like when they bellow. Yeah. It's the coolest, right? It's so cool. It's very uh Jurassic Park. Yep. I'm so Look at this. You're actually on the island. It's This reminds me cuz I'm afraid of heights as well. I'm I'm a scaredy-cat of a lot of things and I in cuz I'm also afraid of elevators and flags and giant flags. That's a weird one. But we don't have to talk about that one. But when I went to Paris, I wanted to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower cuz that's what you do. But I didn't want to take

the elevator cuz I'm scared of elevators. So I decided the stairs would be better. But about halfway up, my body froze. It would not move. I no matter how much I willed my body to move, it would not go any further. I had to literally get on my hands and knees and crawl up the rest of the way. And you But you did crawl all the way to And then I took the elevator down. Okay. But this kind of feels like that. I'm not as much, but I just breathe through it. When you realize that these animals are really focused on their food and themselves right now,

they want nothing to do with you. You can learn their behavior and understand how to put yourself in a safe position. And that's actually what I'm trying to do. In all seriousness, I'm not trying to like show off with the camera. I want you to start to feel a little bit more comfortable here. And this is how you do it. Little baby steps. It's just an animal. They're doing what they do. They normally, Hold on, hun. They don't think of us as food. Um, that being said, accidents happen, but I'm trying to keep you informed and educated, so you don't worry about that. Now, you aren't going

to be in here without that they are more than just an animal. I mean, they're they're not like a little puppy or kitty cat. They're No, they're an apex predator. Very predatory uh you know, dangerous animal. They are dangerous. very wise for people who see them in the wild to not do what we're doing. It is stay away from the alligators. You know, you're like one of those after school. The more you know I am educating. Yes, you are a teacher. Uh how would you tell your students how scared you are in Spanish? Let's hear a little Spanish.

What is that? No problem. No problemmo. No. No problemmo. See a mole. Mojo. Moleos. Oh, for my Spanish speaking friends. How is she doing and how am I doing? I still can't roll my ars. I can't believe I can speak in Spanish even when I'm this year. That's good. That's pretty good. That's good. You're pretty darn fluent. You lived in Spain for a while, so that makes sense. Now, um there's not much action going on here. But, uh there's Dale. She's starting to uh they want privacy when they eat because they're afraid the other one's going to steal whatever they have in their mouth. So, she's gone to a little corner

to kind of get ready and eat the food. And of course, he has brought this raccoon out uh so as to not share it with her. The one thing that happens when these guys get together is they do not like to share. And I can sometimes relate because every once in a while Kate likes to reach over and grab a little something off my plate. But she can have whatever she wants. Only French fries. Only French fries. My sister Diane used to do that when I was a kid. It drove me baddy. But um let's give it up for Kate. And I'm really proud of you, hun. You did walk all the way over

to the bridge. You are clearly inside Fred's Lagoon. Dale and Snaggletooth's enclosure. This is a big deal. You held the camera. There was a lot of um, you know, there's some urgency in her voice. There's a little urgency, but that's okay. I love you. I know you're not, you know, you're not this way. This is not your natural state, but I do appreciate Are you scared? That's kind No, that's kind of your natural state. I mean, your natural state is not standing in an alligator. That's true. But, um, she has come to appreciate and love the animals here,

and that's all I ask for. I don't need a woman to be into everything I'm into, but I do need you to understand my fascination. Well, I wouldn't do it if I didn't trust you. Thank you. So, I do trust you. I trust you and I trust my big bamboo stick. All right. Give me a kiss. I love you. I'm going to play with these alligators. I love you. Take the stick. All right. If you don't hear from me in a little while, things went wrong. But, uh, let's go see how they're doing. I'm really proud of her. That's that's a big deal. I know it's all kind of goofy and funny. Um, and she is a comedy.

Uh she's she's a lot of fun. That's why I married her because she's as goofy as I am. She's just not necessarily as comfortable with these animals. And that's okay. But I think today was a really big step in the right direction. Uh so that she, you know, can get even more and more comfortable because that's all it is. It's understanding these animals and getting comfortable. Um that being said, I never want to be so comfortable around them that I don't know that they are in fact powerful creatures. And she was right. They're predatory. They can be dangerous. Um, so we treat

them like that. No, I don't like to do a lot of cowboy stuff with them. Uh, I in fact just love that they're able to do their thing, that they're uh able to live as naturalistically as possible here at the camp because of Fred's Lagoon. Uh, you know, and it's just the perfect alligator habitat. Surrounded by cypress trees like you just see literally blocks away, we've got habitat like this. This is a true slice of Florida because it's in Florida. So, these alligators I don't worry about during the cold. I never stress out. Um, uh, they do very well as long as they're healthy

and strong. The freezes that we sometimes get don't affect alligators too much as long as they're healthy. If you have an older individual, someone that's uh some alligator that's been compromised with um you know, some kind of sickness, any animal that has been compromised due to sickness or malnutrition or some other um factors will probably not make it through the winter, even if they're uh physiologically able to hibernate. Hibernation is a stressful time for all animals. That's why they have to be very healthy in order to do it. So, um,

I just wanted to make sure you guys were aware of that. We're going to leave this right here as my I want my bamboo stick there, but let's have a wander and see if we can get closer to snags and see what he's doing. I love this little area. And what's funny is the gators tend to go to the bathroom in a certain area. They're clean. Look at this. Here's their scat. They're clean. They don't poop in the water. Sometimes they come out and they poop out of the water. So, um that's pretty interesting and it makes sense cuz these are animals that'll live in uh puddles during the dry

season. Here's a old nest mound that she made that Dale made. There's plenty of detrious detritus uh on the ground that she can scrape together, leaves, branches, things like that'll aid in the incubation of eggs if she chooses to actually have them. Okay. Oh, look at this. Look at this guy. There he is. And there she is. So, we'll just sit here, hang out with these guys for a while, and make sure they're doing okay. So, uh, loving this. I love that I get to be this close to such beautiful animals. I also love that these are Fred's animals that we're continuing the legacy

of Fred Grunwald, who was just an original guy. He was uh just an incredible friend and mentor, and um I miss him every single day, but his memory is alive and well. at Camp Cannon in Fred's Lagoon. So, uh yeah, let's just see what he does for a while and uh I'll I'll get back with you. Well, there you have it. He's decided to eat it. He got it head first and uh swallowing up pretty good. She's still kind of hanging out with hers. She's being very sneaky. She better hurry up

because if he finishes his, he might potentially still be hungry. But that raccoon is actually going to feed him for quite some time. Last time he ate was a few weeks back when we had the red tail catfish that Paul uh had. So, we fed those over. Um same with her. She's kind of over there. She's going to start Yeah. positioning. That's what she's doing. She's positioning the food. Uh the raccoon. Look at this. Look at that. That is awesome. They want to get it head first. They kind of have to swallow it all whole or bite off chunks or they'll bite down hard,

perforate it, and then shake it and then get a chunk off and then eat it. Uh, same thing with snaggletoothoth here. But he's he's such a big gator that he's going to be able to swallow this hole no problem. And I've said this before in other videos, these guys actually don't have um muscles to pull the food down into their stomach. It actually falls into their stomach. That's why gators will and crocs lift their heads up. They open the flap at the back of their throat which is watertight and the food falls into their stomach. From there peristalsis begins uh you know

the smooth muscle contractions of the stomach and then it moves into the intestines and gets pushed through because of the rhythmic pulsating muscles uh that push it through the al canal. But unlike human beings and other animals which have peristalsis when we swallow through our esophagus, uh theirs only begins in the stomach. So kind of interesting little fact if you will. Um just a great animal, man. Totally primitive. My little dinosaurs and like Kate said, one of the things she loves is the thing that I love the most also. I love hearing

the songs of the dinosaurs in my backyard. The crocodilian symphony, if you will. Um, these guys, uh, you know, male and female will sing to each other. They bellow. It's beautiful. It's such a reverberating sound that makes its way over a long distance. Um, and it vibrates the windows of the house. So, some mornings we're woken up instead of a cockadoodle dew from a rooster, we're woken up to the bellows of dinosaurs, which is just incredible, huh? Um, what a way to be woken up, especially for a kid that grew up loving dinosaurs and Godzilla and all that fun stuff. So, it's it's

really a um fantastic uh honor and privilege for me to live amongst these beautiful animals. Yep. There she goes. Yeah, she's really getting to it. She's really getting to it over there. Oh, look at that. She's really moving through that thick brush. Water plants, papyrus, and so on. Here she comes. What a gorgeous girl, huh? And I love seeing the lagoon so full because they can swim around. Nice. Look at that. Oh, that's a good boy. Right down. That's a good boy. Yay. Oh, I love it. They're fat and happy alligators. Good boy.

Oh, now he's going to be satiated. He's going to hang out and sunbathe and his metabolism will rise. Uh, and he's going to wind up digesting that meal. He'll digest everything except the fur. So, that's pretty incredible. As you can see, Snaggletoothoth isn't missing many meals, huh? Oh, I know you're You don't like me being so loud and so close, do you? Well, it's for scientific purposes, buddy. There it is. Got it finally all the way down. Good boy. Ah, well, friends, a great feeding, Kate. Showed some bravery. Definitely showed some bravery,

my lady. I'm super thrilled about that. Thrilled to be sharing space with these animals that they're in my backyard is just incredible. Um there's never a dull moment or boring moment here at the camp because we share our lives with these prehistoric reptiles and we protect them, care for them, and I hope you guys enjoy the videos. We're going to keep them coming. All right, guys. Don't forget to go to patreon.com/campkennon for more information for behindthe-scenes action and live chats with me every Thursday 400 p.m. Eastern. All right, guys. Like and subscribe and we'll see you again real soon. Go along.