One of the wildest Colorado attractions I’ve covered throughout my time with OutThere Colorado has been the Colorado Gators Reptile Park and their medical assessment training class – which involves jumping into a pool to wrestle alligators.

Located in the San Luis Valley, Colorado Gators houses hundreds of massive reptilians, which are able to thrive in the often-cold climate of the region thanks to geothermal pools.

These rescued gators aren’t too nice to each other, often leaving members of their congregation with plenty of cuts, bite marks, and scrapes that can spell bad news if left untreated. The safest solution for the gators? Park staff (and the occasional guest) hand catch the animals, pulling them to the shore and treating them.

Obviously, I had to give it a try. Greeted with a lengthy waiver and dismembered digits from unlucky class participants that had come before, I climbed into the pool. Find a video covering the whole experience below:

An in-depth piece about the experience can be found here.