OCEAN COUNTY OBSERVER (Toms River, New Jersey) 22 August 07 Your Humble Serpent - 'Ravishing Reptiles' rates high on scale of summer fun (Paula Scully)
Tuckerton: No one is likely to ever hear some fashionista ask, "My dear, where did you get that reptile? It's absolutely ravishing! Do you usually wear it on your arm?"
And yet, "Ravishing Reptiles," a recent workshop in the Summer Recreation Program sponsored by the Pinelands Regional Board of Education and the School Based Youth Services Program (SBYS), gave youngsters a new appreciation of the cold-blooded creatures.
Each year the summer program offers a wide variety of choices.
"Ravishing Reptiles is one of the favorites," said Christy Barry coordinator of SBYS.
Approximately 12 snakes and 22 children gathered in room 164 of Pinelands Regional High School for the one-day summer camp event.
Campers learned all about reptiles, including dinosaurs, turtles and lizards, alligators and snakes.
Barry was once a Pinelands student herself and has returned to work in the district.
'The program was for children from 7 to 11 years old," she said.
Snake programs have gained wide popularity and aren't just for boys, anymore. 'It's for boys and girls. Both enjoy it,' she said.
The fee to attend the one-day camp was $20.
'We have five weeks of camps," Barry said. 'We run sports camps, arts and crafts, ceramics, acting, and the reptile program. Most of most of our camps run for a week at a time one week of baseball, one week of softball, one week of games.
The campers had the opportunity to hold the reptiles, under the guidance of Pinelands Regional High School science instructor George Young.
'The kids love him," Berry said of Young. "I had him for science when I was in school." Mike Moran, a Stafford police officer, assisted Young in the classroom, teaching the campers all about reptiles, how they live, how they eat. Young taught the campers how to identify one type of poisonous snake from a similar-looking harmless one.
Pointing out the difference in the pattern of red, yellow and black stripes between a dangerous coral snake and a harmless king snake, Young recited, "Red touches yellow, he'll kill a fellow. Red touches black, he's your friend, Jack."
The campers had fun holding the snakes, under the instructor's watchful eyes. For the grand finale, they got to see a snake devour a live mouse.
Unfazed, Brianna Hoegler, 7, of Little Egg Harbor, said she was surprised at how quickly the snake ate the mouse and went to tell her mother, Gerri, about it.
'She said she learned frogs and snakes don't blink like people do,' her mom said.
The purpose of the township's summer program, which ended Friday, is to give area youngsters choices for a more enjoyable and educational summer vacation. It also provides the younger people in the area communities with an opportunity to visit Pinelands buildings and sports facilities and meet some of the instructors in a setting that is fun and educational.
Your Humble Serpent