hecate
10-03-07, 03:46 PM
After a greater than normal spell of running into idiots who kill every snake they see and refuse to listen to reason, I had to find some sane people. So here I am.
I always loved reptiles ever since I could look at all the pretty color plates in the encyclopedia as a very small child. My first "big" snake was a male Eastern Indigo when I was in high school in Chicago, back in the days long before the Endangered Species Act when they sold for $8 a foot. Over the seventeen years I had him, he was the star of many presentations at schools and such, and won over a lot of ophidiophobes.
All my captives since then have been mostly rescues of native species who had the bad luck to run afoul of some ignorant human's shovel. The first time I asked my local small-town vet in Iowa to radiograph a fox snake with a spinal injury, I thought he was going to jump out the window. Most of them went on to be released. The handicapped ones stayed, along with one or two who were just so much fun I had to keep them around.
I don't keep snakes any more, but maintain my acreage in the country as wildlife habitat. Scarcely a day goes by in season that I don't see at least one or two local herps. Most frequent snake genera are Diadophis, Thamnophis, Elaphe, and Pituophis. I've volunteered in zoos, and had wonderful experiences there working with species I'd never dream of keeping myself.
I was a member of the Chicago Herpetological Society back in the late 60's-early 70's (is Ray Pawley still around?), but since moving to Iowa and finally Nebraska I haven't joined any herp clubs. Other interests are horses (Thoroughbreds, hunter/jumper/eventer), dogs (Greyhound rescue and adoption, Scottish Deerhounds), cars (Mopar muscle cars, 1966 Dodge Charger), and guns (Browning Hi-Power collector, 1911's, Ithaca shotguns, AR-15, practical shooting competitor). I know, it's all kind of odd for a fifty-something female, government multi-agency network manager, but what fun is it to be normal?
I always loved reptiles ever since I could look at all the pretty color plates in the encyclopedia as a very small child. My first "big" snake was a male Eastern Indigo when I was in high school in Chicago, back in the days long before the Endangered Species Act when they sold for $8 a foot. Over the seventeen years I had him, he was the star of many presentations at schools and such, and won over a lot of ophidiophobes.
All my captives since then have been mostly rescues of native species who had the bad luck to run afoul of some ignorant human's shovel. The first time I asked my local small-town vet in Iowa to radiograph a fox snake with a spinal injury, I thought he was going to jump out the window. Most of them went on to be released. The handicapped ones stayed, along with one or two who were just so much fun I had to keep them around.
I don't keep snakes any more, but maintain my acreage in the country as wildlife habitat. Scarcely a day goes by in season that I don't see at least one or two local herps. Most frequent snake genera are Diadophis, Thamnophis, Elaphe, and Pituophis. I've volunteered in zoos, and had wonderful experiences there working with species I'd never dream of keeping myself.
I was a member of the Chicago Herpetological Society back in the late 60's-early 70's (is Ray Pawley still around?), but since moving to Iowa and finally Nebraska I haven't joined any herp clubs. Other interests are horses (Thoroughbreds, hunter/jumper/eventer), dogs (Greyhound rescue and adoption, Scottish Deerhounds), cars (Mopar muscle cars, 1966 Dodge Charger), and guns (Browning Hi-Power collector, 1911's, Ithaca shotguns, AR-15, practical shooting competitor). I know, it's all kind of odd for a fifty-something female, government multi-agency network manager, but what fun is it to be normal?