A bizarre video has emerged that shows a woman in Florida sticking her head into the mouth of an alligator during a competition. Yep, you heard that right.
As anyone who has ever searched the words 'Florida man' followed by their date of birth knows, this particular US state can be a bit of a strange place.
One of the things that makes Florida unique is they still hold alligator wrestling competitions.
Advert
During one such event recently, a 32-year-old woman called Ashley Lawrence, who stands at four feet and 11 inches and weighs in at just about 50kg (7 stone, 12 pounds), got stuck into one of the powerful reptiles for a full six minutes and managed to emerge unscathed.
Lawrence's feat, achieved at the Freestyle Alligator Wrestling Competition in Brighton, saw her use the skills of the Native American Seminole Tribe to safely ensure the animal was captured.
First, she gets the beast under control, then she shows off a bit by staring directly down the fearsome jaws of the alligator.
Let's not forget, this is an eight and a half foot long alligator. It weighs between 70 and 90kg. That's a lot more than Ashley does.
Advert
As you can see, that didn't stop her though.
Incidentally, it's worth pointing out all of the alligators involved in the competition were later released into the wild.
Ashley, who is from Miami, explained: "The greatest challenge for me during the event was my own mind.
"When you are breaking ground or entering any sort of arena where you are 'the first', it's natural to feel the pressure and to worry that you are not good enough."
"Being able to dig deep down in those moments and find that trust in yourself, in your own skills and hard-work and reminding yourself that you know you can - that's when you can calm the mind and let the body do what it's been trained to do.
"The greatest challenge for me is staying out of my own way.
"The part of this whole experience that had the biggest impact on me was the strength and love I was surrounded with from the community, from the spectators, from my own competitors.
"So many young women came up to share with me how my six minutes in the arena made them feel.
"It was so moving to hear the excitement and love from women who felt inspired by me that day.
"If I had to describe this experience in one word it would be humbling."
"Sometimes we as humans can't see our own strength inside and on these rare occasions you are given the opportunity to just stand up and be 100 percent yourself.
"It is utterly humbling when you are embraced and applauded for your efforts and that is how everyone made me feel that day."
She continued: "I used these traditional techniques to show not only my own knowledge and understanding of the alligators behaviours and movements but also to show the strength and power of these incredible creatures.
"[The techniques were] used by the Seminole Tribe of Florida to safely capture alligators without the use of weapons."
The alligator was unavailable for comment.
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: US News, Weird, Animals