Gator Country

This past weekend, these Louisiana girls decided to go west and get touristy in nearby Texas, specifically Beaumont. My family is a fan of a show on PBS called The Daytripper. After watching the episode on Beaumont, we had a new found respect for Jason's Deli and a desire to check out Gator Country.

So, here's the thing about Gator Country:  There's a website. There's even a FB page. There is not, however, a sign to tell you which exit to take when you're traveling eastbound I-10. It is, however, right off the interstate, and if you pass it up, you'll see it just north of the interstate--if you're paying attention. I'll confess right here that I've traveled this particular stretch of I-10 countless times and never noticed Gator Country.

To get to Gator Country from Louisiana, take I-10E to exit 838. Take a right (head north) after you exit. Then keep an eye out on the left. It's not far, and there are signs where you turn.

Here's a tip: bring swimwear & towels, especially for any children. And be aware there's a gift shop with stuffed animals, soft drinks, and various Gator Country memorabilia.

Upon walking through a plywood cutout of a gator's mouth, we walked onto a boardwalk. Alligators were abundant in the water below. On the front porch, there's a large, fake gator, perfect for taking pictures--just be sure not to sit on its head. There are also a couple of, well bored-looking, raccoons. They had a pool, some food, and an LSU hammock for the raccoons. And their keeper may have been hanging out just out of view, but they really did look bored and like they were trying to get out.

Once inside, we payed--for 2 adults & a 4-year-old, and a small brown bag of dog food to feed the gators--it was a little over $40. This seemed a bit high to me, especially considering you can visit a zoo and see a live animal show for considerably less. However, they did have a snake collection to rival any zoo. They had several albino snakes, including a very large Burmese python. Gator Country is also home to an African Rock Python, one of the world's most aggressive snakes. Theirs is around 3 years old and was probably under 6 feet--they grow up to around 20 feet. They had two venomous snakes that I saw--a copperhead and a water moccasin (cottonmouth), several lizards, and alligators (of course) and two crocodiles. Their labeling could use some attention as not everything was labeled, though. They also had a couple mammals, namely hedgehogs & a chinchilla.

We missed the beginning of the 2:00 show, but did see most of it. The volunteers that were doing the show seemed very knowledgeable about and comfortable with the snakes they handled. I noticed a few bits of information they were probably misinformed about, namely the largest alligator on record (it was, in fact, 19 feet, caught in Louisiana in 1890s and not weighed). But on the whole, the show was very entertaining, educational, and informative.

After a brief intermission, the volunteer led us out to the pond to see the famed Big Al---the biggest alligator on property. I believe he also stated that Big Al is the heaviest alligator in captivity in Texas. Once again, the volunteer was entertaining and informative. And Big Al was Big Al. He's pretty impressive.

Once Big Al's part in the show was over, we headed to a concrete pool. This is the part that you need a swimsuit for; it's also the part we knew nothing about.

You can swim with alligators. Yes, you read that right. You can swim with alligators. The gators are small, probably 3-4 feet, and their mouths are taped shut. They seemed to only be used for one group of people and then returned to their inside enclosures. We were going to let our daughter join the throng of kids in the pool, right up until we saw that the pool was at least waist-deep for children who looked around 5' tall. They all got soaking wet--Gator Country does sell t-shirts if you want to dress your child in dry clothing once they're done swimming. But I had no desire for my child to get soaking wet and drive back to Louisiana. Swimming with alligators did make the entrance fee seem less steep. I mean, where else can you do that?

In between the inside and outside sections of Gator Country, there's a large playground. However, it was so hot the day we went, I was worried that the slides would be too hot for little legs.

We stopped along a couple of the raised walkways and threw dog food to the alligators. Once again, where else can you legally do this? The gators were used to this and, though there didn't seem to be any confrontations over food, they were all very interested in it. I can definitely see why this is illegal in the wild.

All in all, it was a pretty good experience, save for not knowing about the wet activity. Gator Country really should put some funds into a brochure or pamphlet for the Texas Tourist stops in Beaumont & Orange. It would definitely increase their traffic.

Now, just a word about alligators. If you want some reputable information about them, visit or contact a wildlife refuge, specifically Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Grand Chenier, Louisiana. The gators in the Baton Rouge Zoo and the world famous San Diego Zoo all came from Rockefeller.

Alligators in the wild are typically not aggressive to humans. The exception is a female with babies around. If a baby feels threatened and calls for help, any female around will respond. This is unusual for reptiles. The lesson here is that if you see a baby alligator, assume its protector is around and leave. Even Big Al, who clearly could've taken the volunteer, should he choose to, simply didn't choose to. The Houston Zoo has even managed to clicker train their white (leucistic, not albino) alligator Blanco. They feature a neat video featuring their training sessions in the reptile house. Blanco is pictured above.

Here's the link to Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge.
Gator Country's website
Gator Country's Facebook Page