ST AUGUSTINE RECORD (Florida) 12 March 06 Handling crocs: Docents taught to watch the teeth (Lory Pounder)
He picked up the American alligator with the ease of someone who's picking up their cat or dog.
And as David Kledzik, the curator of reptiles at St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, shifted the creature between his arms, he taught people how to handle it.
Paying attention is essential because even if the alligator has been docile for a while, the slightest thing could make him snap, he said.
"He'll bite down with 100 pounds of force, which," Kledzik paused, "it's painful is what it is."
The students who attended the Crocodilian Biology and Captive Management one-day course Saturday belong to the American Zoo and Aquarium Docents (zoo volunteers). They came from across the country to learn about crocodilians from expert curators at the Alligator Farm.
Holding the reptiles was just part of the day.
Kledzik explained interesting facts docents could bring up when they teach an educational class. He pointed to the alligator's ear flaps that open and showed how they will bite down if anything touches their tongue. Also, their genitals are inside their bodies, so their sex can't be determine by just looking, he said.
Kledzik mentioned the common myth about alligators and their ability to "outrun a cheetah." The truth is, small ones may be able to reach 11 mph and the larger ones get to about 4 mph, he said.
Before the docents handled the 2-foot alligator, Kledzik wrapped a piece of Scotch tape around its mouth.
Virginia Carstens, a new docent this year at the St. Louis Zoo, handled an alligator for the first time Saturday.
"Being a new docent I wanted to learn as much as I can," Carstens said. "It's (the course) wonderful. I'm learning a lot of things I don't know about."
Throughout the day, students learned how to determine species and about crocodilian conservation and research, said Alligator Farm director John Brueggen.
Habitat destruction, hunting in the '50s and '60s and illegal skin trade took a toll on them, Brueggen said.
To combat part of the problem, the Alligator Farm bred the Chinese alligator, which is the most endangered species. Only 120 are left in the wild, Brueggen said.
Some of the ones they bred will be sent back to China with the hope of starting a new population, he added.
For research purposes, material from some of the crocodilians has been taken and sent to San Diego's Frozen Zoo.
There, they use the cells to better understand genetics of the animals and scientists believe it will be possible to grow them, Brueggen said.
"It's a lot like Jurassic Park," he said.
Jim Darlington, assistant curator of reptiles, captured the alligator for Saturday's lecture. For him, handling them is a daily event.
He's worked with alligators for 13 years and over time has experienced what it's like to be in their mouths.
It feels like someone squeezing with pliers when they bite, he said. Struggling makes it worse.
Either waiting for them to let go or having someone squeeze their jaw to open it slightly is what works to get free, he said.
"If you get a little complacent after catching a whole bunch of them that's when something could happen," he said.
Docents taught to watch the teeth