'Darth' Gator Reacts to Sound of His Theme Music at Gator Park and It's So On-Point

I grew up in Florida, and since leaving that fine state I’ve been surprised to learn how very much the general public does not know about alligators and their ubiquitous place in the Florida ecosystem. I’ve talked to visitors to Florida who saw “Beware of Alligator” signs outside a pond and figured it was a joke. Others were shocked that the alligators can’t be “removed” from large bodies of water.

But that’s not how wildlife works. The rule in Florida is, if you see a body of water, there is probably an alligator in it. There are over 1.3 million of the creatures in Florida, and some of the larger lakes have thousands of alligators in them. The best thing to do is to learn to live alongside these creatures, and give them a healthy amount of respect…and distance.

Fortunately, the large alligator in this video is safely in an enclosure at the Everglades Holiday Park near Ft. Lauderdale. But that doesn’t stop the thrill that comes from watching him move swiftly over the ground as soon as his favorite tune comes on.

The alligator’s name is “Darth Gator” and he certainly lives up to it. Thanks to training, you have only to play the Darth Vader theme music from Star Wars to get this gator to come running….that is, if you want him to.

Training Gators

Growing up in Florida, I was never a huge fan of all the roadside attractions boasting gator parks and gator shows. In these sometimes-sketchy facilities there would often be fat alligators lazing in tubs or forced to wrestle with staff members for bits of raw meat. Maybe these gators were happy and well cared-for, but it always kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

The many gator shows that exist even today, however, prove that I’m in the minority when it comes to the fun of watching these prehistoric beasts show off their chops. They’re extremely sharp chops.

On the plus side, parks like the Everglades Holiday Park are devoted to education and conservation, trying to show the public that alligators are a vital part of the Florida ecosystem, and the Everglades is an important natural resource that deserves protection from people, whether or not they themselves love the giant swamp. If they have to provide a few safe thrills in the shape of well-kept captive alligators, then who am I to judge?

Life of the Alligator

Alligators are called “prehistoric” because their species has remained essentially unchanged for the last 8 million years. In fact, an earlier species of alligator was living in Florida eighteen million years ago. To compare, early hominids, the precursor to modern man, only started cropping up six or so million years ago, and Homo sapiens are only a few hundred thousand years old.

These ancient beasts grow between ten and fifteen feet long, live more than thirty years in the wild (and even longer in captivity) and favor ponds, wetlands, and marshes, due to their inability to live in salt water.

Alligators are efficient predators, capable of delivering a bite with over a thousand pounds of pressure. They can also regrow their teeth throughout their life, and often grow over three thousand new teeth over the years.

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