'Gator Crusader' feeds alligator a hot dog from his own mouth – and nearly pays for it

An alligator lover and stuntman, the so-called "Gator Crusader", has filmed his most hair-raising trick to date – feeding a hot dog sausage to an adult alligator from his own mouth.

Michael Womer performed the brave trick at a conservation centre in his native Florida and uploaded footage to YouTube on Monday (17 July).

"I've been teaching him to eat 'Lady and the Tramp' style right out of my mouth," he said.

The film includes a point of view shot that captures the moment the alligator's deadly jaws open wide and snatch the sausage from his teeth.

"It's pretty darn close... where the camera ends, that's my lips, my face," he said.

Look how little of the hot dog is hanging out of his mouth – that was basically what was in my mouth. Our lips touched on that one."

Womer is a wildlife expert and has featured on many TV shows in America. He claims to perform dangerous stunts in an effort to make others more conscious of his favourite animal.

"A huge challenge as the Gator Crusader is always trying to come up with something over the top. Why do I like to do theatrical over the top antics with alligators? Because it gets people talking about alligators," he said.

"It gets people fascinated about alligators. Just like I was when I was a kid. So that's why I put the hot dogs in my mouth and let the 'gators bite it right out of there."

"Hopefully these over the top antics get you fascinated with 'gators and you can grow up just like me: a Gator Crusader."

Just don't call him "Crocodile Dundee".

IBTimes UK advises that children and adults exercise caution around all deadly creatures. In June a Texas rancher was bitten on the hand by an alligator that strayed onto a farm and broke into a cattle pen where calves were weaning.