When Christy Kroboth worked as a dental assistant in south Texas, she still carved out time outside of the office for side pursuits.

As a lifelong animal lover she found herself drawn to looking out for the little ones – stray dogs, turtles, cats. Her dedication of time to her efforts grew in proportion to the size of the animals in harm’s way: alligators.

According to an interview with BBC News, where Kroboth  lives, alligators take up residence in the man-made ponds of master-plan communities. They’re not necessarily welcomed guests, and Kroboth decided to help “change people’s mindset” by becoming an alligator catcher.

“I registered to be an alligator hunter with Texas Parks and Wildlife and we had to go through a whole training course. I was the only girl in the class, and also the youngest….

I’d never even touched an alligator before and for a split second I thought, ‘I can’t do this.’ …I ran out to the pond, got the alligator, taped him up and ended up passing the test. It was one of the happiest moments of my life and that adrenaline rush lasted the whole day.”

“When I first got my license I was only doing this as a hobby, I’d go to work as a dental assistant and catch my alligators on the side. But I got well-known for taking the alligators alive, and I’m now doing this as my full time job.”