London, Aug 1 (ANI): A woman called Jeanette Rivera has been nicknamed the Gator Whisperer, for she leaves many tourists awestruck by her expertise at calming alligators, with whom she gets up close and personal with ease.

The 5ft 2in beauty can do various stunts with the creatures fearlessly.

She first drags them from their swamp by their tail, and then leaps on their back before working her magic, and coolly resting her chin on their snouts.

Tourists at Florida's Everglades Alligator Farm are left gaping as she tackles the animals while dressed in just flip-flops, vest and hotpants.

"I love alligators. They are amazing. There's nothing else like them in the world. They've got dreamy eyes and plaited backs and are one of our few connections to the dinosaurs," the Sun quoted Jeanette as saying.

Jeanette has worked at the farm since she was 14.

Before playtime she stands on a 5ft-high wooden platform to toss the 200 resident reptiles their favourite grub of fish and dead rats.

Jeanette and park owner Bob Freer then beat back the hungry hordes with poles, before she steps in to single out her chosen playmate.

To avoid attack Jeanette hauls animals from the swamp by their tails because they can see only sideways.

She then covers their eyes to relax them, before getting down to the business end of her show.

Slowly but surely she prises open the gator's jaw, balances her chin on the snout and spreads her arms like an angel, to signal that she comes in peace.

The stunt is quite risky because, once a gator bites their prey, with an estimated 2,000lb of pressure, no human force can wrench open the jaw.

"We don't do anything to stress them out. I sit on them, do a couple of stunts and they are good to go. We change the alligators we use to stop them from being stressed. We look after them really well," she said.

She added: "Once a week they get their favourite meal of dead rats. They're just good old boys hanging out for dinner in the sunshine." (ANI)