E. Norbert Smith, or Doc Gator as his students called him, has spent most of his life studying alligators and other animals. He has written nearly 200 scientific articles, books and magazine articles. He was the first to study the heart rates of frightened animals and discovered their hearts slow down when they have a safe hiding place. Scientists that study reptiles and amphibian other are called herpetologists. Like herpetologists he knows, he kept several reptiles as pets as a child. He had a pet boa constrictor for 23 years. When the snake became too large to keep as a pet, he gave it to the Oklahoma City zoo so other people could enjoy it.