'Swamp People': R.J. Almost Gets His Face Bitten Off By A Gator (VIDEO)

Alligator hunting is easily one of the most dangerous vocations in the world. One month a year in Louisiana, the "Swamp People" (Thu., 9 p.m. EST on History) get out on the waters and in the swamps to hunt some of the world's most dangerous prey. It's essential that a hunter be on his game, vigilant and paying attention at all times.

The cameras caught a close call on this week's installment. An alligator's jaw comes with over 2,000 pounds of force, and they can snap closed in an instant. So when R.J. was knocked off balance while they were trying to bring one in, tottering forward until his face actually fell below the water's surface, he was seconds from being face-to-face with that gaping jaw.

Luckily, one of his partners was ready and took the shot that stopped the gator before R.J. lost his life, or at least his head.

"You slip up like that on the water, something bad's gonna happen to you," he said later. "I gotta say that's the closest I ever came to getting bit by an alligator." And yet, he quickly shook it off and got back to the business of hunting gators.

The hunt continues on "Swamp People" on Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST on History.

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Comments

[fisherdude47]

08:47 AM on 02/11/2012

Rednecks at their best,....Now this is the best news on Huff.

[belldn3]

08:16 PM on 02/10/2012

Fake.

[lthrnck68]

07:36 PM on 02/10/2012

It's just another waste of tv air time like all reality shows. Just like most other reality shows, the people on it are NOT stars. The only stars on reality shows are the ones who have had previous careers in sports or entertainment.

[mhulgin]

07:09 PM on 02/10/2012

I watch this Show all the time. You have to be a Man to pull off what these Guy's do...

[vtmilitia]

06:47 PM on 02/10/2012

How to make something out of nothing. I was almost hit head on tonight by a semi-truck,we missed each other by a mere foot or two while traveling straight at one another at highway speeds. Oh,the drama.

[jmjj]

06:34 PM on 02/10/2012

Oh please. It looks like he threw himself into the water. How many times can you shoot a gator and keep the show going? He did this on purpose for ratings.

[kranmar]

06:11 PM on 02/10/2012

I especially like the view from the gator's perspective; how'd they get that?

[Sharp tongue]

07:16 PM on 02/10/2012

They wrap a camera with chicken, then feed it to the gator.

[n4tvq]

06:03 PM on 02/10/2012

I was rooting for the gator....!

[steve1234567890]

06:39 PM on 02/10/2012

Me to...Steve D

[teabagmetos]

06:02 PM on 02/10/2012

Here in Florida its a big deal to have have an alligator wallet, though its meaningless unless you catch your own gator. This buddy of mine was a commercial diver and he told me about this canal where he once laid some fiber optic phone cable through that was full of them. So one year I got all the permit and licenses to go get me a gator. We took his boat and a bunch of rope and dangled a chicken into the water along the side of the boat. Finally we get a taker, it wasn't very big maybe 5 or 6 feet, but I got rope over its head and my buddy got one around its tail. We towed it into shallow water where I jumped out and wrapped duct tape arond its jaws with a great deal of help from my friend with another chicken and some more rope I must add. After a bunch of splashing and thrashing, I finally got it flipped over and got really pissed because his wallet was gone, somebody had beat me to it. I gave up after that.

[Ossit]

06:27 PM on 02/10/2012

You're a cruel person wanting to kill a gator for a stupid wallet.

[teabagmetos]

11:20 PM on 02/10/2012

You should have read my post b4 making yourself look stuupit. I didn't kill any gator.

[steve1234567890]

06:41 PM on 02/10/2012

LOL, Funny that made me laugh...Steve D

[ccjames4]

05:45 PM on 02/10/2012

Squeal like a pig..............................

[glyngcgb]

04:50 PM on 02/10/2012

If we ever did have an honest to gosh depression again..., those people out in the bayous would just continue to live off the land..., the liberals who are making light of their way of life..., wouldn't last a month if their plastic stopped working..., if the trucks stopped bringing the food to their local market..., then what, liberal snobs..., will you come out into the sticks to try and steal our food & water..., I think not..., you would be lost once you took the off ramp from an expressway..., viva la Cajuns..., and the Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama rednecks..., their sisters & brothers...,

[teabagmetos]

05:46 PM on 02/10/2012

Really ?? I'm a liberal, I know how to hunt and fish and farm, I know how milk cows and butcher meat, and grow tomatoes.

[doc612]

06:21 PM on 02/10/2012

Yeah, but you're better at telling great stories!

[CHUXKLES]

06:19 PM on 02/10/2012

THE SCARY THING TO ME IS OBIE MIGHT GET WIND OF THIS AND MAKE THESE HARDWORKING CITIZENS GIVE UP HALF THEIR CATCH TO THE OWS CROWD OR SOME OTHER LIB TAKER.

[seabeeutcn]

04:07 PM on 02/10/2012

A bit over dramatic headline dont ya think?

[Jmac645]

03:39 PM on 02/10/2012

I'd rather see them hunt and kill pythons, and monitor lizards.

[kritteracres]

04:28 PM on 02/10/2012

I'm pulling for the Alligators. At least they have all their teeth.

[madeye1]

08:40 PM on 02/10/2012

That is a good idea. They could alternate between those and alligators.

[octap53]

03:39 PM on 02/10/2012

i saw the show and after that he almost had a finger taken off. not a good day for him on for the new season. luckly his son was alert enough to ger the gator. you couldn't pay me enough to do that.

[HELLRAISER81]

03:33 PM on 02/10/2012

Just another day at work for some.