Don’t let the sweet smile or the innocent name of the petite mother of five at the Fleet and Family Service Center (FFSC) fool you. Angel Boily, the ombudsman coordinator, among other roles at the FFSC, is famously known around her home state as the first female licensed nuisance alligator trapper in northern Florida and only the fourth woman overall to be contracted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Having grown up near the Apalachicola River in Blountstown, Fla., Boily had spent her fair share of time around gators. She knew enough to decide when they were stationed at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville that she wanted to apply to be a part of the state’s public alligator hunt drawing. The drawing was a lottery for hunters to receive tags to hunt for gators during a specific time period. Boily registered for the drawing in hopes of having the opportunity to hunt gators for meat. While she was registering online, she noticed that you could also apply to be a trapper.

“I thought what the heck, I’ll give it a shot,” Boily said.

A year later, Boily received an email that would change not only her future but that of her whole family, including her 17-year-old daughter. The email informed her that there were to be two days of interviews for the position of nuisance alligator trapper. She was one of only two who were selected after the process to be contracted and licensed by the state that year. After receiving training with Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) to prepare, Boily was officially a gator trapper and ready as she was going to be to start hunting.

“That first call was terrifying and exciting at the same time. We were told it was a huge alligator and we were prepared for the worst,” Boily said. “It took us two hours, but when we finally got it on the truck it was only a four foot gator.”

Four feet may not big by gator standards, but it was just enough to hook Boily and convince her that she was right where she needed to be. In turn, she encouraged her 17-year-old daughter to go out with her on a trapping excursion; following that, her daughter too was hooked. Along the way Boily would add other military spouses to her team, as well as-unbeknownst to her - her future son-in-law.

After working with the FWS trapping and dispatching nuisance gators, Boily began to realize that many of the reptiles weren’t really nuisance animals at all. Maligned by their reputation, alligators were often finding themselves the targets of human fear, which in turn made them targets for Boily and her team.

“After spending some time I began to realize that many people weren’t educated about the alligators. [They] were just subscribing to the philosophy that they are killers and we shouldn’t have them around. My thought was - they were here first, we are the ones imposing,” said Boily.

It was at that time that Boily went on to get a license to house and exhibit alligators. Through her work trapping and dispatching alligators, Boily met a gentleman who would help her realize her dream to shed a more positive light on the reptiles she had grown to respect.

“We got a call to catch a gator that he had been attempting to get rid of for over a year. Other trappers had come through, but all told [the client] that this was an elusive gator and it couldn’t be done, “Boily said. “My daughter and I were there for about half an hour when we identified the slide (the area where an alligator frequently enters and exits the water), and we set a trap. Within a little while, we caught it, killed it and had it on the truck. I let the property manager to let him know we were done and were leaving.”

Impressed with her success, the property owner later called Boily and let her know he had another retail property with a pond and he wanted to feature alligators there. From there, the venture became even more of a family affair.

“After I got my exhibitors license, even my younger children began to help out as well. They would hold the baby gators while we worked towards educating visitors,” Boily said. “After his first deployment, I even got my husband on board with the project.”

Boily’s husband, Lt. Justin Boily, is in training to be an instructor at the AEGIS Training and Readiness Center (ATRC)

Not only was this unusual job a uniting force for her family, but through it, another member was added to their clan. Boily’s daughter Bridget met and worked with her soon to be husband Travis Graves trapping and dispatching nuisance gators.

“Bridget met him at the training class and it was if they had known one another their whole lives,” Boily said. “He was our snatcher, he would cast a treble hook, catch the gator and snatch him out of the water for us to relocate or dispatch.”

The two have been working together for three years and are now married and are now the proud parents of a five-month-old, third-generation alligator hunter to carry on the legacy. All told, this family dispatched or relocated more than 100 gators and learned a great deal about themselves, while offering a great deal more to their community.

“I think it was important not only for my daughters to see me doing something non-traditional, but for other military spouse to see that ‘hey I can do something I want to do, I don’t have to work a desk job, or only be a mother and wife. I’m not confined by the stereotypical female role. ‘Boily said.

Today the Boily family enjoys the bountiful wildlife of Virginia and plans to enjoy the upcoming hunting seasons as a family here - minus the gators.

“I still find myself turning to look when I pass a retention pond. My head just automatically turns as if subconsciously I am expecting to find an alligator there,” Boily laughed. “These days I am doing the typical mom stuff - Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, PTA, and Sea Cadets and of course working here at the FFSC.”

“If we do end up back in Florida at some point in time, I would definitely return to the FWS. I want to continue to education folks about these intelligent and magnificent creatures,” Boily said. “Given the change, I would much rather educate folks beforehand than have to come out to dispatch.”