I don't know how you live among the alligators. I would face a million coyotes rather than one alligator. Those things spook spook me. Did you see that story about the lady walking her dogs who got eaten by the alligator? That was pretty recent. They found her two dogs standing at the lake's edge one with the bloody face. It broke my heart for the dogs. Though no force in the world will ever get me near a body of water in either Florida or Australia.... No thank you to alligators. No thank you to crocodiles. Also no thank you to sharks.
As for the conquering. I rather like to think I am the conqueror in my house. And though my husband is definitely protective my protective instincts are on overdrive for sure. My husband definitely didn't/doesn't see that coyote as any threat to the safety of our pack. In fact he wants to tame it and add it to the pack. Crazy man. And okay yes having a coyote as part of the pack would be super cool... but nobody is ever going to tame an adult full grown coyote. That is just not happening.
This is also the same man that during a trip to the San Diego zoo sees a giant canine in one of the enclosures (before we see the sign for the animal) . This was right after we had seen the cheetah with its canine companion. He starts to whistle and try to call the canine over.
I look at him and say "Um that is a wolf. It is not going to come."
He says "no it is another big cat companion dog. Watch. Sit. Sit boy. Sit"
The wolf stares at him.
"Honey. That is a wolf. He is not going to sit for you."
"No. It's a dog. Sit. Sit."
The wolf stares.
I walk over to the sign shaking my head read off the plaque including the name and the species of wolf he is to my husband.
Husband laughs. "That wolf was so about to come and sit for me. I was totally training it."
The wolf continues to stare.
"uh huh. Right. Sure it was."
We also don't fall into traditional roles per say. We both work full time (well he will again once the move is finished) but I am the bread winner as I make significantly more. My husband likes to say I am "domestically retarded" because I can't cook. Mostly I hate cooking. Like when it is just me I eat a lot lot less because I hate it so much. And when I do get it it in my mind to cook it comes out edible at best. Though I must say I am not nearly as bad a cook as my mom was. Her food rarely came out edible. We were both much thinner before she married my step-dad (he is a good cook). I do the lion's share of the cleaning though. And I definitely am better at anything artistic including decorating. But I can't sew at all despite the fact that I actually really wish I could because I have such creative ideas all the time. But, I can't even manage sewing a button onto a shirt. I have tried. I even took lessons years ago. All my attempts were pretty pathetic. I did try teaching myself to crochet with my mom's help and I got a nice little string going but it took months and months to get that with many retries. I still have dreams of getting good enough to make tons of scarves. My husband is more patient than I am and more nurturing. I am the strict one. He is the indulgent one. The dogs are more obedient to me. And when either of us gets stern my husband is often ignored whereas my stern voice is obeyed and my shrill "omg what did you just do i am so mad" voice which i swear is high pitch enough to only register to dogs is instantly reacted to with frantic haste. I have a feeling when we have kids it won't be "Wait til I tell your dad." it will instead be "Wait til I tell your mom."
I am not a believer in traditional roles. But, I do believe in finding a mate that balances you so you can fill in the gaps for one another. My husband and I balance each other well. We have different strengths that compliment one another and it works.
I may not cook him dinner but I did buy us a house and take us on cool trips when I can.