# When kids played with alligators in LA **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 25, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218 "2022-09-25T20:13:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/1 "2022-09-25T20:13:36Z")
> **[When Kids Played With Alligators in Los Angeles](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/alligator-farm-los-angeles-180957172/)** > > Babies, dogs and onlookers mixed with snapping reptiles at California's Alligator Farm I saw one of these photos on Instagram today and it beggars belief. Check out the 9 photos on top with no. 4 and 9 looking like something from a horror film. I didn’t think I would ever see a wild animal story crazier than Tippi Hedren’s [pet lions](https://www.life.com/animals/something-wild-at-home-with-tippi-hedren-melanie-griffith-and-a-400-pound-lion/) but this may be it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_km3NtJ7sNQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Los Angeles Had an Alligator Farm? | SoCal Connected | KCET") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_km3NtJ7sNQ) This video provides some useful context. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/2 "2022-09-27T13:56:03Z")
It’s California, Jake… Dan ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/3 "2022-09-27T14:11:57Z")
I was expecting LA meant Louisiana in the title. And to think that some people these days complain that screen time is bad for kids. Doesn’t seem so bad in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/4 "2022-09-27T16:13:08Z")
Elyria, Ohio had a couple of alligators in the fountain on public square in the early 1900s. There were quite a few stories in the newspaper about their escapades which included eating a duck or two. They brought them indoors over the winter and stored them in a pool in the city hall basement. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/5 "2022-09-27T18:35:41Z")
Every once in a while the local stations will do stories on this kind of thing. I’ve heard of the alligator farm, and the ostrich farm, and the race track _and_ the canals with gondolas in Venice. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/6 "2022-09-27T21:09:37Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I was expecting LA meant Louisiana in the title. Me too. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/7 "2022-09-27T21:23:16Z")
I went to the Alligator Farm in the early 60s, I liked it much better than Knotts Berry Farm which was right across the street. The undisputed star of the show back then was M’Kulu, the largest Nile Crocodile in captivity. Here he is with keeper Ken Adams, who went on to establish the Black Hills Reptile Garden: [![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Vf9cgYA4CxY/Sf44FD0KEWI/AAAAAAAAJgU/uOaXxZGyXBc/s1600/CA+A'+FARM.jpg) ](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Vf9cgYA4CxY/Sf44FD0KEWI/AAAAAAAAJgU/uOaXxZGyXBc/s1600/CA+A'+FARM.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/8 "2022-09-27T22:46:07Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > …keeper **Ken Adams** , who went on to establish the Black Hills Reptile Garden: Missed the edit window, correction: **Ken Ernest** --grandson of Francis Earnest who opened the original park. ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/9 "2022-09-28T08:10:11Z")
I visited the Alligator farm when it was in Buena Park. This would have been about the mid to late 1960’s. It wasn’t the alligators that I found scary - they were about 8 feet away and behind a fence. It was the cage of rattlesnakes with only a thin pane of glass between me and the snakes. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/10 "2022-09-28T17:58:51Z")
And you probably couldn’t speak Parseltongue. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/11 "2022-09-29T22:30:56Z")
Looks more like Florida to me. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-kids-played-with-alligators-in-la/972218/12 "2022-10-01T03:11:39Z")
1960s? Bah! [You can order online and have your very own alligator shipped to your home today.](https://www.backwaterreptiles.com/alligators/alligator-for-sale.html) Quote: “(W)atching them attack prey in a watery fury is beyond entertaining.”