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Snakes alive
By Amy Moss Strong, From the Western World
Friday, July 25, 2008 | 1 comment(s)
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Some people are deathly afraid of them.
Others are fascinated.
The second group flocked to Brad’s World Reptiles on Thursday at the Coos County Fair. In a cool brick room next to the community tent, dozens of snakes, lizards, amphibians and arthropods waited silently.
Reptiles are a quiet group, unlike the mooing, oinking and whinnying mammals that are on everyone’s list to see at the fair. But they drew a crowd anyway.
The albino Burmese python and the American alligator are probably the biggest draws, said Thomas Hayden, an intern with Brad’s World Reptiles who is learning how to handle the creatures.
This is the first time the exhibit has appeared at the Coos County Fair.
“We get a lot of compliments, people really like the exhibit,” Hayden said. “They ask a lot of questions.”
Most of the snakes are in glass aquariums, but Hayden and Nathan Turnquist, a handler and animal caretaker with Brad’s, take several of the snakes out at the request of visitors.
“The python and alligator are hands-on, also the black pine snake and the Australian bearded dragon,” Hayden said. “I like to take the blue-tongue skink out because people like to see the blue tongue and you can’t when it’s in the cage.”
Hayden said he occasionally takes out the rose hair tarantula but finds that most people are afraid of it.
The python, however, makes a great neck ornament. Turnquist and Hayden gladly accommodate the curious by draping the large, heavy yellow snake across visitors’ shoulders.
Brad’s World obtains main of its reptiles through animal rescues. That’s how the American alligator being shown Thursday was added to the facility, Turnquist said.
“She was one of 13 that were private pets,” he said. “The owners get over their initial high of owning an alligator and into the reality of how big they get and how much room they need.”
The alligator being shown is 9 years old and will likely reach age 60. She will top out at about 10 feet and about 700 pounds.
Alligators have 80 teeth — 40 on top and 40 on the bottom. They use them for grabbing and tearing, not for chewing.
Though the alligator looked like it could pack a mean bite, Turnquist said it wasn’t likely.
“This is the product of lots and lots of handling,” he said. “It’s similar to any other animal in that it only shows signs of aggression when it’s nervous. We’re not going to bring her out if she’s a risk.”
The alligator appeared calm — relaxed, even. Turnquist rubbed the back of her neck to calm her even more while children gathered around to pet the reptile.
Jacob Duvall, 10, of Coos Bay, said he’s seen reptiles up close before in a zoo, but not as close as he did Thursday.
“I like the gator,” he said.
The Corvallis-based Brad’s World Reptiles is one of the largest reptile-breeding facilities in the Pacific Northwest. It has been associated with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry for more than 20 years. Several traveling exhibits tour the fair circuit in the summer.
A.J. Haga, 5, of Bandon and his brother, Anthony, 11, got their photo taken with the gator.
“It’s not slimy,” Anthony announced after holding the alligator in his lap. “It was a little heavy, through, in the stomach area.”
“It’s all cool,” he added.
AJ announced that he was not afraid of the alligator.
Anthony Stone, a former Bandon resident who lives in Lake Oswego, was at the fair with his friend, Julie Caceres. They also got their photo taken holding the alligator.
“I was shocked that it wasn’t going to bite me,” Caceres said. “I watch a lot of National Geographic shows, so I thought it would be one of those ‘oops we didn’t think that was going to happen’ moments.”
“I was surprised at how calm it was,” Stone agreed.
Caceres and others visiting the exhibit said they had never touched an alligator before and marveled at the experience.
“I’d rather touch that than that tarantula over there,” Caceres laughed.
Brad’s World Reptiles will remain at the fair through Saturday, with the large reptiles brought out for handling several hours daily. For more information online, go to www.bradsworldreptiles.com.
Others are fascinated.
The second group flocked to Brad’s World Reptiles on Thursday at the Coos County Fair. In a cool brick room next to the community tent, dozens of snakes, lizards, amphibians and arthropods waited silently.
Reptiles are a quiet group, unlike the mooing, oinking and whinnying mammals that are on everyone’s list to see at the fair. But they drew a crowd anyway.
The albino Burmese python and the American alligator are probably the biggest draws, said Thomas Hayden, an intern with Brad’s World Reptiles who is learning how to handle the creatures.
This is the first time the exhibit has appeared at the Coos County Fair.
“We get a lot of compliments, people really like the exhibit,” Hayden said. “They ask a lot of questions.”
Most of the snakes are in glass aquariums, but Hayden and Nathan Turnquist, a handler and animal caretaker with Brad’s, take several of the snakes out at the request of visitors.
“The python and alligator are hands-on, also the black pine snake and the Australian bearded dragon,” Hayden said. “I like to take the blue-tongue skink out because people like to see the blue tongue and you can’t when it’s in the cage.”
Hayden said he occasionally takes out the rose hair tarantula but finds that most people are afraid of it.
The python, however, makes a great neck ornament. Turnquist and Hayden gladly accommodate the curious by draping the large, heavy yellow snake across visitors’ shoulders.
Brad’s World obtains main of its reptiles through animal rescues. That’s how the American alligator being shown Thursday was added to the facility, Turnquist said.
“She was one of 13 that were private pets,” he said. “The owners get over their initial high of owning an alligator and into the reality of how big they get and how much room they need.”
The alligator being shown is 9 years old and will likely reach age 60. She will top out at about 10 feet and about 700 pounds.
Alligators have 80 teeth — 40 on top and 40 on the bottom. They use them for grabbing and tearing, not for chewing.
Though the alligator looked like it could pack a mean bite, Turnquist said it wasn’t likely.
“This is the product of lots and lots of handling,” he said. “It’s similar to any other animal in that it only shows signs of aggression when it’s nervous. We’re not going to bring her out if she’s a risk.”
The alligator appeared calm — relaxed, even. Turnquist rubbed the back of her neck to calm her even more while children gathered around to pet the reptile.
Jacob Duvall, 10, of Coos Bay, said he’s seen reptiles up close before in a zoo, but not as close as he did Thursday.
“I like the gator,” he said.
The Corvallis-based Brad’s World Reptiles is one of the largest reptile-breeding facilities in the Pacific Northwest. It has been associated with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry for more than 20 years. Several traveling exhibits tour the fair circuit in the summer.
A.J. Haga, 5, of Bandon and his brother, Anthony, 11, got their photo taken with the gator.
“It’s not slimy,” Anthony announced after holding the alligator in his lap. “It was a little heavy, through, in the stomach area.”
“It’s all cool,” he added.
AJ announced that he was not afraid of the alligator.
Anthony Stone, a former Bandon resident who lives in Lake Oswego, was at the fair with his friend, Julie Caceres. They also got their photo taken holding the alligator.
“I was shocked that it wasn’t going to bite me,” Caceres said. “I watch a lot of National Geographic shows, so I thought it would be one of those ‘oops we didn’t think that was going to happen’ moments.”
“I was surprised at how calm it was,” Stone agreed.
Caceres and others visiting the exhibit said they had never touched an alligator before and marveled at the experience.
“I’d rather touch that than that tarantula over there,” Caceres laughed.
Brad’s World Reptiles will remain at the fair through Saturday, with the large reptiles brought out for handling several hours daily. For more information online, go to www.bradsworldreptiles.com.
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