<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unique milestone photos are nothing new, but one Texas-based grad is taking things to the next level.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kat Daley, a graduating McNeese State University student, is going viral online for a photo shoot she did with a live 14-foot alligator named “Big Al.” This moment was personal for her as she helps run Gator Country in Beaumont, Texas, with her fiancé, Eddie.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I really wanted to highlight what I do with these animals every day and what they mean to me,” she <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/17/us-news/glamorous-coed-takes-insane-graduation-pics-with-alligator/">told</a> The New York Post in an interview.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_1097265" style="width: 717px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1097265" class="size-large wp-image-1097265" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Daley-Gator-2-707x576.png" alt="Gator with Daley" width="707" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Daley-Gator-2-707x576.png 707w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Daley-Gator-2-300x245.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Daley-Gator-2-768x626.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Daley-Gator-2.png 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 707px) 100vw, 707px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1097265" class="wp-caption-text">Laura Oglesbee Photography</p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Daley said the photos were partially to show off her life’s work, and partially to help de-stigmatize the animals themselves.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I feel like reptiles are demonized in the media a lot more than they need to be, alligators specifically. They’re not as aggressive as people like to think. When people don’t interfere with those wild animals, they aren’t gonna interfere with us,” she told the Post.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Her photographer Laura Oglesbee said Daley was calm and professional during the shoot. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The alligators are trained, they only do it with Big Al and Big Tex, who have been trained for a long time. It’s not just some random alligator,” she told the outlet. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Oglesbee said that she was more hesitant about the shots of Daley holding a venomous rattlesnake, which necessitated her using a “wide angle lens” and staying far, far away.</span></p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="She kissed a 14 foot alligator for graduation photos" width="422" height="750" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2eYRsouKmCo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Daley is graduating from McNeese State University with a general studies degree and plans to stay on at Gator Country working for now. The facility, located about 80 miles outside of Houston, takes in around 250 nuisance gators which are captured each year.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We bring them here, take care of them, feed them, pretty much let them live out their best lives they can in captivity because they don’t have a chance in the wild,” she told The Post of her employer. </span></p>
<div id="attachment_1097269" style="width: 822px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1097269" class="size-large wp-image-1097269" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Daley-Gator-3-812x576.png" alt="Daley Gator" width="812" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Daley-Gator-3-812x576.png 812w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Daley-Gator-3-300x213.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Daley-Gator-3-768x545.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Daley-Gator-3.png 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 812px) 100vw, 812px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1097269" class="wp-caption-text">Laura Oglesbee Photography</p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I love the conservation aspect of it, where we get to save these animals that would otherwise be destroyed. But I also love the education aspect, getting people to see and interact with these animals and see they’re not so scary.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Daley concluded, “Honestly I kind of already have my dream job, so I think I’m just gonna stay right here and see where it takes me.”</span></p>

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SEE IT: She Kissed A 14-Foot Alligator For Graduation Photos