THE SUN (Ottawa, Ontario) 17 March 06 Slimy, scaly or just plain hairy (Daphne Blouin Carbonneau)
"Just relax and stay on land," Paul "Little Ray" Goulet said before jumping into the tank. "They're way more afraid of you than you are of them."
If that's true, Stewart, a 400-pound alligator, must have been terrified.
Alligator handling, snake feeding and hands-on demonstrations were all part of the activities that drew in crowds yesterday at Little Ray's Reptile Zoo -- and most of the kids weren't as nervous as I was.
Leah Robertson from Stittsville is a "typical" 10-year-old girl. She enjoys reading, watching TV, hanging out with friends and, of course, handling snakes.
"I'm not scared of anything here," she said after handling a python. "I like snakes, lizards, iguanas and stuff."
Her father, Neil Robertson, says he takes Leah and her nine-year-old sister Tess to the reptile rescue at least once or twice a year.
"It's a good experience for them, I didn't grow up touching snakes," he said. "The only problem is, they end up wanting them all as pets."
Leah denies this. She says all she wants is a tarantula.
"The kids lose their fear of animals like spiders and snakes," said their mother, Anna Corsi. "They teach them important things about animals, like how to respect them."
Education is the main goal of the 11-year-old facility, which houses 250 to 300 species of slimy, scaly, or hairy creatures, from tiny cockroaches to the largest boa constrictor in Canada.
The rescue facility, which takes in everything from abandoned pets to endangered species, has been open to the public for five years.
Paul Goulet, known to most as Little Ray, says Spring Break is the busiest week of the year for the zoo.
"It's probably the most fun, too. The kids have a lot of energy, they feed off each other, and that makes it a lot of fun for the staff and the people who come here."
Eric Leblanc took advantage of Spring Break to spend some quality time with his son Maxime, 7, and daughter Camille, 4.
Maxime and Camille didn't get squeamish watching two king snakes eat their lunch of rats.
Eric said he was impressed with his children's willingness to touch some feisty creatures, including a crocodile.
"She didn't want to touch the snakes, but then again neither did her dad," he added, laughing.

Slimy, scaly or just plain hairy