A pregnant woman who wrestles alligators is drawing throngs of onlookers in Florida. Martha Rivera is a soccer mom who loves wrestling gators despite the fact she’s 7 months pregnant and due in 6 weeks.
Rivera calls herself an adrenaline junkie and loves being near alligators, from feeding them to getting in the water with them to wrestling them, she does it all. Now expecting her second child, it hasn’t stopped her from working with the gators.
ABC News has the interview with this pregnant alligator wrestler that viewers will see on Nightline .
“I’ve done shows fully pregnant. It’s no different than somebody who just happens to have a big belly.”
Rivera and her husband Jeffrey are volunteers at the Everglades Outpost Wildlife Rescue in Homestead, Florida. They also have an 8-year-old son.
The pregnant woman says she knows which gators she can work with and which ones she cannot. She gauges the size of them and applies good judgment over which tricks she can do in her current condition.
“I would not… do something I thought I could do without really thinking it through, because I would danger[sic] not just myself but the animal as well,” Martha Rivera says. Rivera isn’t paid for the shows she performs with the alligators, but earns tips. Being close with them is something that she thrives on.
“There’s nothing like getting on an animal with the alligator close and front and personal,” Rivera raves.
The Everglades Outpost Wildlife Rescue in Homestead, Florida rehabilitates animals and releases them back into the wild. Besides alligators, other wildlife reside at the facility. Visitors, who are charged an entry fee, get to see wolves, tigers, zebras and many other species of wild animals. They feature educational shows, which is what Rivera is associated with. Rivera shares with Nightline that people learn how important it is that wild animals stay protected and that their work at Everglades Outpost is making a difference.
More about the Everglades Outpost Wildlife Rescue can be learned by visiting their website .
Rivera adds that the gators are prepared for shows that are put on.
“These alligators are wild but they know that we use them so they know what’s coming. We rotate them also so we do not stress them out. After the shows we make sure they’re not stressed — every so often we’ll take some out of this pit, put them in the resting pit.”
The soccer mom wrestles alligators for shows after watching her son play a game many times. For those who think she’s being unsafe, Martha Rivera says it’s safe if you know what you’re doing and the skills needed. Her final gator wrestling show was two weeks ago before going on maternity leave.
[Image via ABC News]
