Friday, July 18, 2014

Greenwood Gator Farm

On Friday, June 6th we visited Greenwood Gator Farm. We saw real live alligators up close and personal at this full time working alligator farm. We saw gators of all sizes, from new hatchlings to full grown monsters! Greenwood Gator Farm houses and hatches 5,000 - 10,000 alligators each year. We took a guided tour of how Louisiana alligators are born and raised and learned about the centuries old art of alligator hunting from real life hunters. We found out how they go from an egg to boots and purses and sauce piquantes!

Besides a full, inside, a/c tour, Greenwood Gator Farms offers a large covered pavilion area for picnicking along with a turtle pond, a fish pond, a turtle in which the you can feed, a petting area, and a play area for the kiddos. 

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Getting ready for our tour!

 

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We started our tour in the hatchery where we learned about how they raise the gator eggs along with how gators out in the wild build there nest and return to the same one each year.  Gator hunters will mark the nest with a flag ( as seen below) to mark the gator nest.

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Next, we went into the processing area which demonstrates the process. They will bring the gators into a large cooler to which they must process within a 24 hour time.  Then, they will skin the gator.  The skinners will get bonus money based on how well they skin the gator.  They can also lose their job if they have too many incorrect cuts in the skin because they are not able to sell those skins.  Also, this is where they will process and salt the gator meat.

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In the gator den, we got to see various size gators.  Then, we had the opportunity to hold and kiss some gators:)

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Random pics from the outdoors of the farm:

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(Mr. Tim buys alligator from Liz on the History Channel show "Swamp People".)

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