the Introducing and Educating people thread

[Norm66]

In the spirit of Snake Awareness Day I thought it might be cool to have a thread where we could discuss our efforts in introducing people to reptiles and educating them about them. This has become a real interest of mine lately for a number of reasons including the recent State and Federal legislation plus my natural inclination to fight ignorance when possible.

So all that having been said, let me start. Here's a picture from a presentation that I did with my friend Shannon who runs the MOV Reptile House (http://movreptilehouse.yolasite.com/) (and from whom we adopted our Sidney and Malaki) last Friday. It was a group of home schooled kids and 3 parents. The kids had great questions and showed no fear at all even when I managed to get myself bit 4 times by one of the kingsnakes.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-QJWxA325kHI/T23SCgB8_uI/AAAAAAAABKg/AkqNLYpkWGA/s576/527720_1967117233424_1707746010_941175_1184675403_ n.jpg
And here's another one with the bitey kingsnake. He'd calmed down really well by this point but I still contained his head carefully when I let the kids touch him. Shannon gave a running commentary about the animals while I showed them around.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-NQOiBSAdAS8/T23SB0Xkl1I/AAAAAAAABKQ/rZyJ7TbXfRE/s576/375761_1967102953067_1707746010_941165_608162508_n .jpg

I also had the opportunity last week to introduce some of the neighborhood kids I'm friendly with to our boa and our JCP. They had tons of questions and even the littlest one was eager to pet them and discuss the differences in how they felt and looked. Cool stuff.

But the one I'm most excited about was our friend Cindy because Cindy has a genuine, intense fear of snakes but wanted to overcome it. She'd been working up to actually holding a snake for about a month, watching a feeding and petting ones Becky and I were holding. But yesterday she decided it was time to actually hold one on her own and she decided it was 'Go big or go home!' and picked Malaki as who she wanted to hold first. She was nervous but not unduly so and I kept Malaki's head for all but about 10 seconds while this picture was taken but she did it and is eager to try again in a few days. The best thing is that she's going to bring her son and a friend of his who are interested in seeing the snakes. Keep the chain going!

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-CaaFDFLKOqo/T2-_dspr_sI/AAAAAAAABLE/wmZJX9gpBn4/s512/IMAGE_B1E92A5F-52E7-4A73-888D-22B3576E6982.JPG

So let's hear your stories and see your pics of times you've spent introducing people to reptiles and educating them about our scaly friends.

[Lankyrob]

We have done talks at our daughters nursery and then her school, taking the snakes along and showing the children the differences between the species and talking about hteir care etc. We dont let the children hold them tho as we have zero insurance and if anything happened it would be unaffordable. We also arent allowed to take pictures due to stupid child protection laws over here :(

We also allow the children from our cul de sac into our house to meet and greet the snakes, when this happens we leave it to the parents of the children as to whether they are allowed to hold the snakes or not.

I also talk to pretty much anyone that will listen about how cool snakes are and how htey are great to have as pets etc etc :)

[Snakefood]

. We also arent allowed to take pictures due to stupid child protection laws over here :(

Smae over here, but I don't think it's stupid!! Although in the daycares here parents have to sign whether or not thier childs pictures are allowed to be posted online. I personally said no, so any pics taken at daycare that have my son in them are not allowed to be posted.

On another note, that is a great idea. I may ask Soren's daycare if they would like a small show put off for thier kids!!

[alessia55]

I posted this story several months ago but I think it merits being posted again in here :)

A friend of mine has always been terrified of snakes ever since she was young. She was too afraid to even come into my apartment just knowing that I had snakes somewhere. She would be paralyzed at the mere thought of encountering one. Today she decided it was time for a change: she wanted to come to my apartment. After class she came over to my apartment, along with another mutual friend who's not afraid of snakes (but doesn't particularly like them either). She walked into my living room, where both my ball pythons reside, and sat at the sofa. She freaked out a bit, then took some deep breaths.

It was finally OK for me to open the cage of my big boy Kaybe (my baby bp Pika ate last night so he wasn't an option). At first I held him from a distance so she could watch how he moves. She asked me many times to make sure his face wasn't facing her, and she wanted me to touch his face to see if he'd bite me (lol) which of course Kaybe didn't mind (he's not head shy at all). Kaybe's quite difficult to provoke- he's really chill and tolerates a whole lot. It slowly became OK for me to sit in a chair in front of the sofa behind a coffee table. After another half hour she said it was OK for me to put him on the coffee table so long as Kaybe's face was facing me. Kaybe sat pretty still on the table.

Eventually she leaned over and pet the very tip of his tail. A few pokes at first and then a few strokes. She slowly got the courage to stroke a few more inches of him so long as he stayed still (which he did). She then got quite curious about feeling his muscles and his belly side. Soon enough she was petting the bottom half of his body while it was on the table with Kaybe's face facing me.

We took it up another notch and I sat next to her. Kaybe conveniently decided to put his head inside my pants pocket, so she felt better knowing his head was not near her. She progressed to putting part of his body on her lap, with most of it on my lap. We eventually got to put all of his body on her, with Kaybe's face still in my pants pocket (lol). She freaked out a few times, but got much more comfortable with time.

Kaybe eventually came out of my pocket. She took a few deep breaths and I reminded her that he's only exploring and sniffing. I had to reassure her that he was not angry with her, scared of her, or going to bite her. By the end of the night, she insisted we document this monumental step for her.

With one more deep breath...........

SUCCESS!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/alessia55/IMG02032-20111101-1741.jpg

Look at how happy and proud she is!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/alessia55/IMG02031-20111101-1737.jpg

I think education is definitely the key here. Usually fears come from not knowing, and educating people can help lessen that fear. I hope that, as reptile enthusiasts, we can all help slowly educate those around us and bring some awareness to the beauty of these animals :)

[Lankyrob]

I can understand why the laws were introduced BUT the extent that the authorities have taken it is too far, we cant take pictures of our own children at school just in case someone elses child gets in frame, my wife cant take pics of me doing the snake talks in case a child gets in frame etc etc - :crazy:

I can totally understand not allowing people to wander around the schools taking random pics or taking pics during pe/swimming where children are only half dressed but when they are in full uniform i think it goes too far.

[Snakefood]

Alessia- That is awesome, you can see the pride she has in herself for overcoming her fears!! Courage is not a lack of fear, STUPIDITY is a lack of fear. COURAGE is facing and overcoming your fears!!

Rob- that is taking it too far, we are allowed to take pics of our children, but did sign a contract stating we would not post any pictures on the web that contains anyone elses child.

They also signed a contract with us, that although they are allowed to take pics of our son to post on thier board or put in thier monthly newsletter to parents, that they are not allowed to post any pictures on thier website that contain our son.

[Norm66]

That's awesome Alessia. Great story. :)

[SerpentLust]

I go to schools and the occasional birthday party when asked and give people the educational experience of a lifetime. The island reptile community I find is really just in its infancy (with a few exceptions of course) so I enjoy teaching people the basics of husbandry, and will throw in a bit of biology, ecology and humour! lol

I've just gotten into the beginnings of making this an actual official job and not just something I do sometimes.

Campbell River Animal Parties | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/CRAnimalParties)

[Norm66]

SL- that's good stuff! I liked your Facebook page. Thanks for sharing.