‘Swampmaster’ headlines expo with gator demonstrations in Myrtle Beach

The “Swampmaster” and his reptilian companions will feel at home at the 29th annual Grand Strand Boat & Sportsman Expo.

Jeff Quattrocchi of Naples, Fla., will bring some alligators for demonstrations two or three times daily during the expo, Friday through Sunday at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.

Aware that gators – like sharks, wolves, coyotes and bats – carry a maligned reputation despite their value and role in the circle of life, Quattrocchi said, “That’s what the show is about: education, and getting away from the man-against-beast thing.”

“It’s very gratifying educating people about alligators,” he said, “which are all over the Pee Dee and coastal South Carolina.”

Quattrocchi said he likes his up-close sessions with gators at fairs and festivals nationwide to differentiate from “anything you might see on television” that might contribute to giving the animals a bad rap.

He said he also will appear on the season premiere Feb. 8 of “Only in America, with Larry the Cable Guy” on the History Channel.

“He came out and did the whole show with me,” Quattrocchi said, remembering the filming at the Texas State Fair. “He got in the water with the alligators.”

Gators usually aren’t part of traveling shows, so people see them at theme parks, zoos and wildlife parks, said Quattrocchi, an Iowa native who migrated to Florida and has spent 14 years educating with gators. He said they’re indigenous to the Palmetto State and that 2 million of them call the Sunshine State home.

With assistant Ryan “Forklift” Lipperd, Quattrocchi said he does demos only with gators caught about two weeks beforehand and does not train them in any regard, so people can see their natural behavior.

Quattrocchi ran through many wowing characteristics and misconceptions about gators, such as how they cannot outrun people or a horse.

“They can run nine to 10 miles per hour for a short distance,” he said. “I can run 12 mph.”

He stated flat out, “They’re not maneaters, and they don’t like the taste of human flesh.”

“You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning in Florida than getting bitten by an alligator,” he said.

Quattrocchi remembers, though, incurring a bite on his eighth day of learning to handle gators, emboldening his respect for an animal “at the top of the food chain.”

“It bit me in the leg,” he said, “and held on for two minutes and would not let go.”

Other features Quattrocchi touted about alligators include being “great at hiding and ambushing, their natural instinct.”

“To see a female alligator with 80 teeth that can crush bones be so maternal is amazing,” he said. “They guard their nest and very rarely leave it. With the babies, mothers pick them up in their mouth and take them where they want to go.”

Quattrocchi said after a few shows, he retires his gators to a pond “to live out their lives,” because taming them would be a mistake, and he does not want to release animals with which he has worked back in the wild, to encounter other people.

“After I’ve handled that alligator 15, 16, 20 times,” Quattrocchi said, “that same ferocious alligator kind of figures out I’m not going to hurt him or kill him.”

Catching gators and having aggressive ones in his shows is “always a rush,” he said, never forgetting their inborn strength and nature and some close calls.

“Scars on my arm don’t lie,” Quattrocchi said, ready for his first shows in this new year this weekend.

Elizabeth Cooper from Cooper Communications, promoting the boat and sportsman expo, said its coordinators are excited to have Quattrocchi for his shows daily, as well as his being on hand for photographs, one-on-one chats, and questions and answers with visitors.

Cooper said besides sales of vessels from “all leading boat lines,” vendors will cover “everything from kayaks to marine electronics.”

The slew of special guests will include hunting and fishing specialists such as TV hosts Englis Glover from “Reelin’ Up the Coast” and Jay Gregg from “South Carolina & Carolina Outdoors”; the National Wild Turkey Federation with a shooting range for children to learn about gun safety and shooting practice and the return of Blake Hodge, multi-time champion duck caller from Lancaster County, who is now 16, Cooper said.

“This is an all-day or all-weekend family event,” she said.

This story was originally published January 9, 2013 at 5:00 PM with the headline "‘Swampmaster’ headlines expo with gator demonstrations in Myrtle Beach."