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A Boa Lovefest......

gray Mar 19, 2008 10:55 PM

No silly, its not more breeding photos. I'm just reporting another educational outreach event and sharing some neat photos. It is these kind of photos that we need to show to those threatening are rights of boa ownership. Feel free to share them with those that consider our boas to be dangerous creatures deserving of a ban.

I sponsor a Reptile Club at school. Each March, the students help me set up an exhibit on boas at the "Reptile & Amphibian Day" at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, North Carolina. The students really enjoy this event because they get to interact with a lot of children who have never touched a snake before. I have students who left our school (graduated, transferred) who still come back for this event. We had more students and more boas so we were able to serve more people than ever before. It also allowed me to step back and take more photos. Keep in mind that this event normally attracts around 15,000 visitors in a single day and is the largest reptile educational event in the country. Since we are one of the few exhibits that allow visitors to touch and hold the animals, we are kept very busy for 8 hours. However, it is well worth it when you see someone smiling with a boa in their hands who had arrived just 5 minutes before with a definite fear of snakes. An interesting side note is that at the end of the day, some of the boas won't move because they are so tired. They curl up in a knot and just sit there. Here is a sampling of photos. You can see many more (109 total) by using the link below. Enjoy the smiles!

Link to all 109 photos

Replies (15)

jscrick Mar 19, 2008 11:00 PM

I see some future boa enthusiasts for sure.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

danktat Mar 19, 2008 11:33 PM

A couple of those kids were handling some rather expensive boas

Happy to see them starting to respect them young.
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LarM Mar 20, 2008 12:03 AM

Your one of the very BEST Gray! All the way around! Lar M
Boas By Klevitz

fgs Mar 20, 2008 01:18 AM

Gray:

What a great service you bring to your school and the future herp community.

Thanks so much for sharing.

Brian

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Brian Gundy

www.for-goodness-snakes.com

AshLopez Mar 20, 2008 01:32 AM

Good Job Grey !!!

Those kids are so Smiley !!!!

Is that pastel a Red Group ???
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Ashley Lopez's Black Forest Constrictors.

blackforestconstrictors@gmail.com

WWW.BLACKFORESTCONSTRICTORS.COM

gray Mar 20, 2008 09:50 PM

np

southernboids Mar 20, 2008 06:54 AM

Grays Wife - Honey, its time again for the Boa Show.. should I grab a bunch of your normals for you to take to the show?

Gray - Yea Honey.. lets see what I have for normals.. hmm.. maybe this Motley.. how about this Super Jungle... and this red group here.

MUST BE NICE to have your normals be the HIGH ENDS!!!

Not only did those kids possibly get to see and hold their first boa but I would guess NONE of them knew just how special those boas really are.

You are the man Gray!!

Glad to see you have started a "tradition" in your area. The young kids and your helpers all seem to be having a great time. Odd how sometimes learning can be fun.

It is funny to see the boas get so much love they just ball up at the end in a knot.

Hope all is well on your end.

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Thanks
Shawn Morelan
www.Southernboids.com

carl3 Mar 20, 2008 09:37 AM
gray Mar 20, 2008 09:52 PM

.....those folks had no idea what they were handling and we did have some nice examples of boas.

ajfreptiles Mar 20, 2008 08:02 AM

Looks like a whole lot of fun Gray!

Andy
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AbsoluteApril Mar 20, 2008 10:13 AM

Thank you for sharing the pics and for the great outreach work you do!
-April
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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

patoquack Mar 20, 2008 01:18 PM

maybe the boa community needs to do more of this - show the politicians and the general public what Boas really are...

Good going Gray!

Patrick

drimes Mar 20, 2008 08:21 PM

Looks like our "boa ambassador" has done it again!!

Great work Gray! The kids in your photos look like they had a great time learning about our "dangerous" pets!!

I see NCARK was well represented too.

Denny

gray Mar 20, 2008 09:54 PM

....wish more of you lived closer to participate.

michaelburton Mar 21, 2008 02:05 AM

so happy!! That is just Awesome!! Congrats on being a teacher!
Michael Burton

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