My hobby!

Hatching baby speckled kingsnake. The pictures below are with the speckled kingsnakes as well.

A lot of people always ask me what I like to do in my free-time. Well, I actually have animals at home that I care for and breed (all reptiles). It is an interesting situation being a Conservation Biologist and keeping animals at home, but the animals I have are all from captive-born situations (so they are not collected from the wild) and most of them are acquired from less-than-great homes. I decided to try breeding a few of my snakes this year for a few different reasons. First, because breeding in captivity decreases the need to collect those animals from the wild. Second, it takes quite a bit of skill and persistence with breeding, incubating eggs and raising the young and I both have experience with, and wanted to practice that skill. It is almost a hobby with how much time and dedication goes into the process and I really do enjoy it! I know it is a little unconventional, but it really is a great experience. And, I don't only have snakes, I am also a crazy cat lady! Which I'm sure I will post about my cats at another time...

Fear and Fascination

Wow, there really is a day for EVERYTHING! So I just wanted to recognize that July 16th, 2013 is world snake day!

I understand that a lot of people are afraid of snakes, and it always makes me sad. WAVE does a lot of animal outreaches where we take some of the Newport Aquarium's animal ambassadors to schools, camps and businesses around the tri-state (Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana). Whenever I take a snake with me, I always have to worry about how people are going to react. I really want to educate people about the snakes and teach them to respect the snakes that they might see in the wild, but I also don't want to terrify or devastate anyone. Usually, the people who are scared will politely move to the back of the room and almost hide, but one of the best feelings is that over half of them will work up the courage to touch the snake by the end of the program. And most of them say "oh, that's kinda cool" or "that's not so bad", etc.

One of the things that makes me more sad is the kids during the program who quickly raise their hands and tell a horrific story about how their dad, mom, grandpa, uncle, etc. has killed a snake with a shovel or some other quickly made weapon. This type of behavior is always unnecessary. The snake is simply there to live life. They never hunt you down, seek you out and cause pain to you or your family as long as you leave them alone. Yes, there are situations where you might happen across a venomous snake in the wild, and yes, you should always be cautious and safe in those circumstances, but no, that doesn't mean that the snake should be killed.

The best thing to do with snakes is to leave them alone. They are extremely important for the food chain/ecosystem and they do a great job at keeping the rodent and insect populations in check. So if you see a snake in the wild, just leave them be. Chances are you won't see them very often and they won't harm you in any way. If you have kids and you are worried about them being curious, then you should talk to them about the snakes in your area and learn about them. There are a lot of great local parks who have local snake books/guides that you can look at, or make a trip to the library and research the animals in your area. This could be a great educational opportunity for your family to learn how to be "snake safe!"

If you have any questions about this, leave a comment and I'd be happy to talk to you! Snakes are one of my favorite animals and our world wouldn't be the same without them! Happy world snake day, everyone! (Here are some pictures of me on outreaches with our Western Hognose snake and Kenyan Sand Boa).