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TYLER MORNING PAPER (Texas) 02 December 07 Snake Handler Aims To Open Minds (Jacque Hilburn)
Daryl Sprout knows how to make a strong first impression. After the gasping and gawking subsides, most people are curious to learn more about the very large yellow snake draped around his shoulders.
Black beady eyes, flickering tongue, clammy scales … yuck.
Or is it?
Sprout, a herpetological humorist and expert snake handler, is on a mission to shed a little light on this oft-misunderstood creature.
He lives in Lancaster, but travels around the United States with about a dozen snakes, sharing insight and opening eyes of the fearful. He also performs snake removals and rescues.
Sprout was at Tyler’s Discovery Science Place Friday and Saturday to present a series of family friendly lectures titled, “Snake Encounters.”
“Snakes got a little bad press early on,” he said. “To be afraid of snakes, you have to be taught to be afraid of them. Many people have been conditioned to be afraid of snakes — it’s a reputation these animals just don’t deserve.”
The reptile-loving Sprout established Snake Encounters in 1993 as a way of educating the public. Sessions are designed to redirect fears and promote understanding, using humor as an ice breaker to knowledge.
For this comic, the material is personal.
“Every single show I do nets me a percentage of people who might not grab a hoe when they see one,” he said.
Sprout believes many people developed a fear of snakes when they were children, especially if they saw their parents react negatively to them.
Hence the importance of early education and intervention, he said, crediting his mother for her bravery during one of his first encounters with a snake.
“At age 7 in Jackson, Miss., I was visiting my grandmother,” he said. “I found a speckled king snake and wrapped it around my finger. I like to say that by the end of the day, it was wrapped around my heart.”
His mother didn’t freak out, Sprout said, so he took it home as a pet. As Sprout grew older, his interest in all things scaly grew.
Eventually, it became his career and his passion.
During his program at Discovery Science, Sprout’s affection for the subject was obvious.
“Would you like to meet an unfriendly snake?” he said, reaching into a box.
The room filled with 4- and 5-year-olds became uncharacteristically quiet.
The children leaned forward and then quickly retreated as Sprout reached inside a small plastic storage box and yelled, “Yahhhhh.”
In perfect sync, the crowd suddenly shouted, “Yahhhhhhh.”
“Just kidding,” Sprout said, pulling out a large, wiggling snake.
The wide-eyed youngsters were all ears.
“This is a bull snake, but they do not eat bulls,” he said. “Why are they called bull snakes? Because they are full of bull. They sound like rattlesnakes, they look like rattlesnakes but they are totally harmless.”
Replacing the snake, he reached for a larger box and pulled out an even bigger snake.
“Now that’s a lot of bull,” Sprout said as the pint-sized audience members roared with laughter.
Giggling participants were invited to pet the animals, but some — including many adults — scrambled for cover.
Addressing the retreating women, Sprout said, “C’mon, you can do it. You’ve spent a fortune on a purse like this.”
Along with the hilarity of the occasion, there were ample opportunities for learning such as this one: if you encounter a snake, take a few steps back, tell an adult and go play somewhere else.
And this one: snakes can be beneficial.
Sprout said a single rat snake, which is non-venomous, can consume hundreds of rats in the course of its lifetime. Rats are far more dangerous — they chew electric wiring, spread disease and consume food supplies — but people are more likely to kill a snake.
“One dead snake equals 300 live rats,” he said. “Which would you rather have?”
By the end of the session, there seemed to be less fear in the room and more appreciation.
“I petted the snake,” said little Mindy Miller, 4. “I helped hold the snake.”
Dr. Bennie Webster, who chairs the Discovery Science Place board, said, “It was wonderful … and I did touch one.”
For others, the session proved to be a real eye-opener — Vel Williamson, Discovery Science’s marketing director, was one of them.
She ended the session wearing an albino Burmese python around her neck.
“I’m not a snake person,” she said, “I told my husband on our first date, ‘I don’t like spiders and snakes.’ But this wasn’t that bad, it wasn’t slimy. Maybe I’m not that scared of them after all.”
Snake Handler Aims To Open Minds
