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Frenchman who sleeps with alligator in his bed looks to open refuge for his exotic pets

Philippe Gillet, a former hunting guide in Africa, keeps 400 exotic pets at his house in France and shares his experiences on social media

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Philippe Gillet, 72, opens the door for his crocodile in his house in Coueron, western France. The retired hunting guide in Africa keeps 400 exotic animals. Photo: AFP

His neighbours have cats and dogs, but when 72-year-old Philippe Gillet settles down to watch television there is usually an alligator dozing beside him.

His bungalow in western France is also home to a venomous Gabonese viper, a spitting cobra, a python, alligator turtles that can bite off a finger, tarantulas and scorpions.

When someone unfamiliar enters Gillet’s living room, Gator, a two-metre (6ft 6-inch) alligator, growls from under a coffee table.

“Calm down,” says Gillet, and Gator goes back to his snooze near Alli, another dozing alligator.

Frenchman Philippe Gillet, 72, shines a black light on a pet scorpion. Photo: AFP
Frenchman Philippe Gillet, 72, shines a black light on a pet scorpion. Photo: AFP
One of the two alligators who live in Gillet’s house, in the west of France. Photo: AFP
One of the two alligators who live in Gillet’s house, in the west of France. Photo: AFP

“When there is a storm he comes to sleep in my bed,” said Gillet. “People think I am mad.”

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