BIO PHOTOS Meet Swamp People’s “Gator Queen” Liz Cavalier
Troy Landry may be King of the Swamp, but he isn’t the only royalty running alligator lines in the bayous around Pierre Part. In fact, he’s not even the only Swamp royal in his own boat! Rounding out Landry’s crew this season and handling most of the “chooting” is the Gator Queen herself, Liz Cavalier.
(Don’t call her) Elizabeth Cavalier Choate has been alligator hunting all her life. On the show, we’ve heard the stories about Liz going out hunting with her daddy, C.J. Dupre, when she was a small girl, but Liz says that her father was already taking her and her mother, Ella, out in the boat when Liz was still drinking from a bottle. She’s quick to add that he was always very concerned with safety, and never let her get near an alligator line until much, much later. Like 12.
^ Liz Cavalier and her dad CJ Dupree (Photo: GatorQueen.com)
Liz’s Dad must’ve let her play with guns pretty young, though, because she is an amazing shot. Fans of Swamp People hear about the “quarter-sized kill spot” on an alligator’s head all the time, but you tend to forget about that detail when Troy’s holding the line and Liz is pointing the gun.
RJ and Jay Paul Molinere are a team like no other on the show, because they seem to be able to communicate with almost no words and move together as if they’d choreographed the hunt; but, I think you would still have to call Troy and Liz the Swamp People Dream Team. Troy can find and bring in any gator, anywhere, and Liz can take it down the minute the top of its head breaks the surface of the water. Add Jacob Landry in the ice boat that follows behind, and Troy’s great success seems a lot less mysterious.
Liz grew up in Troy’s neck of the woods in Pierre Part, Louisiana, and her father, CJ Dupre was an old friend of the family, so the two had known each other for decades before the Swamp People production crew rolled into town. But, despite the way the show portrays it, Troy didn’t find Liz by himself when he needed to replace Clint on his crew–the History Channel did. They put out the call, they watched the tapes, they did the interviews. I imagine that Troy had the final say on who would join him on his boat for the hunt (at least I hope he did), but I’m still a bit disappointed that the team was cast by the show. At least it was great casting. If they decide to keep fishing together after the show, then that’ll make it seem better, somehow.
Now, the home of the Gator Queen is Vermillion Parish, near Pecan Island. She and husband Justin Choate live there with Liz’s daughter Jessica and her two stepsons, Daimon and Destin (who, according to Liz’s website, are planning to carry on the gator hunting tradition).
Cavalier’s brother, Don Rich, is a country recording artist who wrote and cut a song titled “Gator Queen” in her honor. To give it a listen, check out Flat Town Music’s website (and listen for Troy Landry’s cameo!)
