It’s always nice to see a licensed Florida man doing a typical, unsurprising Florida thing.
An alligator, who maybe was just trying to learn a little bit, was seen wandering around in the parking lot of Northwestern Legends Elementary School in Jacksonville, Florida.
Someone smart enough to realize that “small children” and “wild alligators” probably shouldn’t be in the same place eventually alerted authorities, who then responded to the scene.
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, as well as the town’s Sheriff Office showed up to investigate the scene, quickly realizing that they were going to need a “Florida man” type to help with the situation.
That’s when Mike Dragich enters the scene, which sounds exactly like the name of the main character of a Sharknado spinoff movie called “Gatornado.” And let me tell you, he looks the part as well.
Dragich, who is a licensed alligator trapper and a former Marine, was called in to help catch the gator this past Sunday night. You might be wondering, what does a professional alligator wrangler bring to the job? Maybe some rope? A large cage?
Nope. All Mike Dragich came to the school with after he got the call was what the Good Lord gave him: his bare hands.
And I guess a metal wrangling pole, but it sounded cooler to just say he brought his bare hands…
Mike goes in with really no regard for the safety of his own life and began to grab, slap, and drag the gator all around the school parking lot. If you squint and suspend belief momentarily, it honestly looks a bit like a WWE style cage match.
In the video, Mike takes the lead on securing the gator, and once he dramatically does, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue team comes in with the assist. The shouts and over-the-top gasps from the crowd who gathered to watch Dragich “do work” adds somewhat of a theatrical feel to the clip.
Take a look:
Could Mike be considered a real life superhero? Could he be the one, true, caped vigilante by the name of “Florida Man?” Marvel Studios needs to jump on it.
Dragich ended up going on the local news station to discuss the gator wrangle, and if you thought he put on special clothes in the first video to wrestle with the gator (and potentially death), you would be wrong. Turns out that Mike’s signature look seems to be the cutoff shirt with a camouflage hat.
It really doesn’t matter what he’s wearing as long as he comes in to save the day like he did at this Moncrief county elementary school.
In the interview with News 4 Jax, Dragich enthusiastically says:
“I love the people of Moncrief. I felt like…I felt like Batman. I was there, these people were scared to death of this alligator.
I love doing it man, there’s nothing that gets the juices flowing and the adrenaline pumping quite like messing with a big alligator. What I was doing was getting him tired, you’ve got to get these animals tired or they can really hurt you.”
Alright, I’ve seen and heard enough, this man needs to be our next president. That may seem like a rather large jump for those of you who are reading, but his next quote about his charity supporting veterans just might be enough for you to sign on for “Dragich 2024.”
Using the exposure from the story, he goes on to say in the interview:
“Project Savior Outdoors, our mission is to fight PTSD and veteran suicide by connecting with the outdoors and sharing the true freedom that comes through Jesus Christ.
Our goal is to take veterans, first responders, and people out there who are struggling with mental illness and get them the help that they need.”
Hell yes, Mike Dragich.
If you are like me and can’t get enough of this alligator fighting, everyday hero, the news station also took some time to bring him into the studio for a sit down interview. Like I mentioned earlier, he’s still rocking his signature look.
Take a look:
Three-Legged Alligator Caught Roaming Through Texas Neighborhood
Not what you want to see in your headlights late at night.
A Texas man was recently driving home through his Missouri City neighborhood when he came upon a massive 11-foot alligator near his home.
According to Cornealous Greigg Jr., all he saw in his headlights at first was a glowing set of eyes – so he did a quick U-turn to check it out for himself:
“I saw his eyes. I didn’t see him, I saw his eyes. So, it made me do a U-turn, and then when I did the U-turn, I drove slow, and then I saw him. He was ginormous. He was huge. I’ve never seen one that big up close.”
Greigg (smartly) stayed in his car and called police, who arrived on the scene to keep an eye on the gator while they waited for a trapper to arrive.
After Timothy DeRamus, known as Houston’s “gator wrangler” arrived on the scene about an hour later, it took him nearly three hours to capture the massive beast, who apparently didn’t want to go quietly and put up quite the fight:
“I had to get his mouth secure and taped up. He kept throwing the rope and towel off, snapping his jaws, and swinging his tail at me.
He kept flopping around at different angles where we couldn’t get him high enough to get him in the bed of the truck. An alligator like this could knock my leg off real easy. He’s just a massive beast.”
The 11-foot gator weighed an incredible 1,200 lbs, and was missing his right front leg. Officials estimated that the gator is approximately 85 years old.
Head on a swivel out there. You never know what’s roaming your neighborhoods at night.
Alligator Chows Down On Monster Python
The WWE needs to sign this alligator to a contract ASAP.
There’s no way that this alligator hasn’t been watching film, because it brought out this deadly body slam for the finishing move. This video (I say this every time, but this time I mean it) is the craziest “animal in the wild” clip I have ever seen.
A Florida woman (of course it was in Florida) captured this wild video, which starts with the alligator already having a fair share of control in the fight. The funny thing is that, like a professional wrestler, it seems like the alligator knows the camera is rolling, and decided to flare things up a bit.
The pre-historic creature holds the massive python in its mouth, re-positions it to add suspense and prepare for the move, then finishes off the 6 ft+ snake with a body slam.
Is it still a body slam? Do snakes have bodies? Maybe we’ll just call it a “snake slam” to be safe.
Alligators are usually known for a move called the “death roll,” where they bite their prey and roll their body to dismember and break it down. It looks like the snake might’ve already gone through that move, and just when the slithery python was on the ropes, the alligator pulled out the new move.
3, 2, 1… DING DING DING!
Hold up the alligator’s tiny, disproportionate arm, it is the undisputed champion of the “2023 Snake Slam.”
What does the alligator win? A nice, waterfront feast, which just happens to be the competitor that was body slammed to death.
Looks like a classic case of “eyes are too big for your stomach” as the alligator tries to chow down on the python in the back half of the video. The gator was trying to slurp the thing down like a spaghetti noodle, but just like a order of blazing hot chicken wings, it was not going down easy.
I’m sure the alligator eventually dragged the python off to wherever it calls home. The trip back dragging the massive python says two things to all creatures that witness it:
-I’ve got my To-Go order that I’ll be munching on for the next couple of days.
-See what I did to this monster python? You could be next. Don’t mess with me.
Score this one for the alligator, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a big ol’ gator tangle with a monster python…
Sometimes… the python wins.
