It’s not often that you hear about graduation pictures breaking the internet.
The usual grad pics with mom, dad, and the extended family don’t do much except clog up your news feed around graduation time every year.
Enter US college graduate Mackenzie Noland, who turned things up to 11 when she posed in cap and gown with a 14 foot (4,26 metre) alligator.
She shared her pics on Facebook, with these the biggest attention-grabbers:
The Huffington Post reports that:
Noland, who will graduate with a degree in wildlife and fisheries sciences from the Texas A&M University on Friday, has been interning at a Beaumont rescue centre since May.
The centre has about 450 alligators, crocodiles and other reptiles, but it’s Big Tex – who Noland is pictured with – who is the star attraction.
Noland and the gator, who was adopted by the rescue centre in 2016 after overfeeding turned him into a nuisance for local boaties, have since formed a close bond.
She told the BBC that Big Tex responds to his name and reacts to her hand signals when she strolls into his pond to feed him.
“I get in the water with that animal every day – he’s one of my best friends there!” she said, dismissing concerns for her safety.
Noland apparently has a thing for dangerous pets, “having picked up snakes from a young age”.
The grad pics were posted to create awareness about nature conservation:
Noland told the BBC she initially intended her graduation pictures to serve as a showcase for the work she has been doing at the centre.
“In all reality we don’t want to bring these animals back (to the centre), we want them to live in the bayous and canals out in the swampy areas,” she said.
She goes on to say that she didn’t expect the shots to go viral:
I just expected to post a couple of cute photos on my Instagram.
‘Cute’ is not a word you’d usually associate with an alligator, but Noland has clearly bonded with the beast:
“But since [Big Tex] is with us, he’s a wonderful representation of what it’s like to train an animal and show off his personality. They’re wonderful creatures – and they’re not all maneaters!”
Maybe not Noland. I’m still not taking any chances.
[source:huffpost]