{"id":358,"date":"2017-05-19T15:00:54","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T15:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gatoralleyfarm.com\/?p=358"},"modified":"2017-05-24T19:29:10","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T19:29:10","slug":"a-day-on-the-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gatoralleyfarm.com\/a-day-on-the-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"A Day on the Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

We get asked a lot what it\u2019s like to work with alligators. The truth is, it\u2019s just like a normal 9-5 job \u2013 minus the office cubicles and add in colleagues with much sharper teeth. Most days are about the same, but everyday keeps us on our toes. So, we decided to give our readers a little insight into a typical day on the farm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We start each day with our morning rounds. We call in all the \u201ckids\u201d and check to see that everyone got along through the night, make sure there were no fights, no escapes, and no break-ins (our security team is pretty robust, so that\u2019s not usually something we have to worry about).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once we\u2019ve accounted for all of our reptile friends, it\u2019s time for daily maintenance. We drain all the ponds, refill them and everyone gets a bath\u2026 Everyday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then it\u2019s into the walk-in freezer to check out the food stock. A typical inventory includes about a dozen feral pigs that have been turned over by one of our wildlife specialist friends who\u2019s helping control the undomesticated population. The next step is food prep\u2026 We\u2019ll leave out the specifics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When meal prep is done, we grab the leaf blower, clear off paths, pick up trash and check off any others tasks to make sure everything\u2019s ready to open up!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10:00 a.m.<\/strong> – Doors open!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11:00<\/strong> \u2013 First feeding of the day. These guys are HUNGRY. We try to make it a show that\u2019s worth your while.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"alligator\u00a0\u00a0\"alligator<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After lunch, it\u2019s time to meet and greet, talk to customers, and welcome tourists and locals alike. We try to answer all questions and make sure everyone is up to speed on what to expect during their visit to the farm. Surprises and alligators aren\u2019t a relaxing combination.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1:00<\/strong> \u2013 Second feeding, or as we call it: \u201ccrunch time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Usually things slow down a bit after the second feeding. If you\u2019re not into crowds, this is the time to make your appearance.<\/p>\n

Depending on how busy the first two feedings were, more food might need to be prepped. We usually go through about 200 pounds of pig per day\u2026 Told you these guys were hungry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4:00<\/strong> \u2013 Last feeding of the day. Come and get it!<\/p>\n

After that, it\u2019s time to start winding down. We make sure everyone has cleared the walking trails, put the baby alligators back in there home with a little fresh water, and start on food prep for the next day. It\u2019s a good time to check off some regular maintenance to-dos and take care of any repairs needed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"babyalligator\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And that\u2019s a day in the life of an alligator farmer. Now, we didn\u2019t mention the field trips and birthday parties<\/a>, which are always a good time. Some days we\u2019ll make a trip to check on our alligator friends in the area. You may have seen some of them at places like Ralph and Kacoo\u2019s in Mobile. Other days we\u2019re helping with an alligator on the loose. No matter what we have on our agenda, we hope you\u2019ll pick a day to come visit us soon!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"birthday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We get asked a lot what it\u2019s like to work with alligators. The truth is, it\u2019s just like a normal 9-5 job \u2013 minus the office cubicles and add in colleagues with much sharper teeth. Most days are about the same, but everyday keeps us…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,9,15,11,14,12,10,13],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alligator","tag-alligator-alley","tag-alligator-farm","tag-alligator-farmer","tag-farm","tag-farmer","tag-summerdale","tag-wes-moore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatoralleyfarm.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatoralleyfarm.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatoralleyfarm.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatoralleyfarm.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatoralleyfarm.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gatoralleyfarm.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatoralleyfarm.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatoralleyfarm.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatoralleyfarm.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}