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She received her first pet alligator at the age of
two and has been handling the deadly reptiles ever since she was a
toddler.
Now, at the age of just 13, Samantha Young feeds, helps catch and
transport the animals and even teaches other people how to handle
alligators.
The teenage wrangler grew up around the animals, lending a hand at her
family's alligator park.
Her favourite is a 6ft, 100 pound 'gator named Peewee, who she grew up
handling.
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Samantha's father, Jay Young, 39, has lived among the animals since
childhood.
He said: 'I gave Samantha her first alligator, Peewee, when he was a
hatchling - they grew up together.
'She got her first bite at two because she poked him - he didn't break
the skin but she cried.
'That's when she first learned that one end of the alligator is more
dangerous than the other - after that she learned how to not get bit.'
After watching her father handle much larger alligators, Samantha
learned the correct way to work with the creatures.
Mr Young said: 'She would watch on the other side of the fence and say,
"I don't think that's a very good idea dad!"
'Soon she was doing it too.'
At the age of five, Samantha was playing with 3ft long alligators.
While she has been bitten twice, she has not experienced any serious
injuries.
Mr Young said: 'I know that she's going to get bit someday - I expect
it, but she'll learn from it.
'The ones that she handles could at most take her finger, but she
doesn't handle ones that could kill her.'
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Until last year, Samantha suffered from hermivertebrae, a birth defect
that caused her spine to severely curve inwards.
But her love for alligators meant six months after surgery she was
jumping right back into the water.
Her father said: 'She had two rods put into her back, but she thinks
she's invincible now.
'No alligator bite can compare to the pain she went through with that
surgery.
'She jumped back into it, a little earlier than she should have - but
she was itching to get out there and wrestle.
'She was sore the next day, but she didn't care.'
Mr Young operates his father's tilapia fish farm in Mosca, Colorado -
where they originally kept alligators to eat the leftover dead fish.
The farm quickly turned into the present day Colorado Gator Park after
they received an influx of the reptiles.
Mr Young said: 'When news spread that we needed more alligators to help
us deal with the dead fish, pet owners who couldn't look after their
'gators anymore brought them to us.
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'We've even received alligators from police officers who were rescuing
them.
'People mail us packages with reptiles in them - we never know what's in
the box when we open it.'
There are currently about 300 alligators living at the park - including
Elvis, an ill-tempered 600 pound 'gator.
Mr Young said: 'I've cried more than once over the death of one of our
'gators.'
Mr Young and Samantha's story is among several which feature in the new
Animal Planet series Preposterous Pets, which continues on Thursday,
April 10, at 8pm. |