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Bruce and Janet Kliebert met when they were in
Jr. High. In 1980, Bruce married Janet Kliebert. You may recognize her
name from the former Kliebert's Alligator & Turtle Farm.
Bruce began working at
Kliebert's around age 20 and moved on the farm property when he married
Janet. Over a period of thirty plus years, he learned from his
father-in-law, many aspects of the business and was able to take on more
responsibility. With Janet’s help with the business/paperwork aspect
(among other various things), they ran the business together with Janet's father
for over thirty years.

In 1981 at age 21, Bruce and Janet had a daughter named Lorraine Michelle,
and a daughter named Janice Marie in 1984. Around the time Janice was born, the farm
was opened up to the public, and public tours of the farm began. 

While working at the farm, Bruce was asked by the
A & E Network if would like to participate in a documentary on the History
Channel. Being that the History Channel was (and still is) the most watched
network in the Mitchell household, how could he say no.
From there Bruce and
Swamp People were connected.

Bruce would spend his wild gator season working from
daylight to dark (and sometimes later), the full 30 days. He gets up around
4:00am eats his oatmeal and drinks lots of coffee. He packs up his water ( it's
so hot you can't risk dehydration ), he heads out for the water. Bruce
usually gets in mid-day, but work is not even close to being done. He will go out on the
water to hunt/put lines out up to three times a day. In the past, he would
unload and skin his gators (which includes de-boning and packaging the meat)
and then go back out to set lines again for the next morning.

Presently,
he meets up with and sells all of his gators, whole – to a local buyer.
By nightfall, he's gets home, showers and sleeps his few
hours to get up and do it all again.


During his off season he tries his best to keep up with his grandchildren,
family, friends, work around the house and hobbies. However, he and Janet usually
spend a couple of weeks each month traveling in their camper to “meet and greets”
to meet fans and sign autographs.

Bruce's hobbies include camping, hunting and fishing. He loves
gunsmithing and collecting guns and knives.  He's never
really been a football/ baseball sports type of guy. Of course, he supports
our New Orleans Saints, but doesn't usually put the games into his schedule.
Through the years his number one hobby, other than spending time with his family, has become outdoor cooking!
He has released 2 cookbooks!

It's so ironic that such a good ole hometown country-boy was chosen
for this. Bruce has always worked hard for what he and his family has.
If you speak with any of his friends and family- even fans he meets out on the road –
they will tell you how deserving Bruce is of this new found fame,
because he is still the same kind, giving and good-hearted guy he was before.