GATORLAND, Fla. -- Now that it's hurricane season, we want to know how theme parks keep their animals -- and reptiles -- safe.

  • Gatorland shows how they prep animals for hurricanes
  • Bigger animals will "ride it out"
  • Small animals get a "slumber party"

So Spectrum News got an exclusive behind-the-scenes access at Gatorland to discover the steps the animal care teams take.

Gator expert Brandon Fisher, who's also Gatorland's media productions manager, reminds us that "this ain't their first rodeo." But still, there is protocol.

"We're going to drain down our lakes and all of our enclosures that have water in them to prepare for the amount of rain that we get in," he told us. 

While the big guys will ride it out -- likely ducking underwater -- some of the park's smaller animals get an honest-to-goodness "slumber party" inside the administration building.

"They actually go up into our main building in our conference room, and we have a whole team of people that stays and camps out overnight and ride out the storm with them," he said.

This means bobcats, an African Serval named Jabari, tortoises, some birds, an owl, opossums, a three-legged small gator and park ambassador named Bullet, among others.

"(The animal care team) comes and collect them, and we'll get them up there," he said. "They have these treats and all that other stuff. So they're feeding them and taking care of them all through the storm."

Hurricane season is June 1 - Nov. 30.