23 tháng 5, 2011

9 tuổi chơi với cá sấu


Không giống với bạn bè cùng trang lứa, cô bé 9 tuổi Samantha Young có thú vui đặc biệt là chơi đùa với… cá sấu. Người bạn của cô bé là những “sát thủ đầm lầy” có răng sắc nhọn nguy hiểm mà không chỉ bé gái mới cảm thấy sợ sệt khi lại gần. Samantha cho hay em đã tiếp cận với cá sấu từ khi lên 6 và hiện tại vẫn thường xuyên được mời đến công viên Gators Reptile ở Colorado để biểu diễn các kĩ năng khi gặp nguy hiểm với cá sấu.


Growing up on a farm, with 350 alligators has made Samantha Young take up alligator wrestling at a very young age.

The 9-year-old was also inspired by her parents, both professional alligator wrestlers. Samantha began wrestling alligators when she was just 6 years old, but says her father beat her to it, starting the dangerous practice at age 5, after he was bit by one. She admits being scared, at first, but her dad was always there watching over her, ready to intervene if things got out of hand.

Now, this girly version of Crocodile Dundee teaches grown men how to tackle eight-foot alligators, at the Colorado Gators Reptile Park, and has even trained US marines, in this deadly art. She says all you have to do is position yourself on the alligator’s back, in such a way that you have its mouth and neck under your control, then pull its head back and voila, you have yourself a tamed alligator.

Erwin and Lynn Young started their alligator farm, in 1987, when they brought in 100 one-year-old reptiles. As the news spread, people began poking around the gators’ pools, and to avoid any accidents, the Young family began charging people to see the alligators. Nowadays, 25 of the original 100 are still around, and visitors pay $104 for the chance to see Samantha tackle them, and even try it themselves.