One Florida resident is taking time to bring comfort to reptiles who are disoriented by the pandemic.

Michael Womer is known as the “Gator Crusader.”

He regularly posts videos in which he gets extremely close to alligators during live shows.

Wormer explains that he has loved alligators since childhood, even going so far as telling his high school counselor that he wanted to perform with gators at that time.

He recently shared with our news partner, WPTV NewsChannel 5, what changes he has made during the challenges of recent months, and whether he believes that alligators can sense the difference.

Typically, Womer performs with a gator show in central Florida.

His videos show him performing stunts and even reading to the alligators.

According to Womer, alligators can tell something is different when they are not many people around them.

“They don’t know exactly what’s happening, but they do register something is going on,” he said. “In order for an alligator to eat out in the wild, they have to be very observant. They are smarter than most people think.”

Additionally, he explains that the change in the reptiles’ behavior was obvious in the first couple of days.

“The first day or two, I had one or two that would just kind of sit in the back of the pen like, ‘I don’t know what’s happening. It’s weird,'” he said. “I started singing to them. I read them books. I talk to them, and then all of a sudden, they’re like, ‘All right. I know this guy. It’s OK.”

The change in his personal work has provided Womer with an opportunity to reach a more global audience through streaming and posting his videos on YouTube.