IF watching cricket gave you Boxing Day's biggest adrenaline high, spare a thought for the Australian Reptile Park keepers tasked with raiding alligator nests.
Staff snuck into the enclosure, which is home to 40 of the reptilian predators, after 2.8-metre female Betty laid her 47 eggs on Christmas night.
"We do this every year and all of the keepers love getting muddy and helping save the baby alligators from what could be a potentially dangerous situation with Australia's heat and larger cannibalistic adult alligators," head of reptiles Daniel Rumsey said.
"One wrong step out of place can cost you, so we're very careful to follow a meticulous plan and ensure the protective mother is well restrained and doing okay herself."
Keepers wrangle the alligator, who is usually in a highly territorial state, and restrain her while they remove the eggs. Native to the US, alligators' eggs will not hatch in Australia's hot climate without artificial incubation.
