LEADER-TELEGRAM (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) 17 July 08 Altoona man lives with reptiles, including 8-foot gator (Andrew Dowd)
Altoona: Albert opened his long, dark green snout, revealing his pale pink mouth bordered by rows of sharp pearly white teeth.
The 32-year-old American alligator propped himself off the ground by tensing up his short legs and suddenly darted forward, aided by a few flicks of his muscular tail.
His mouth was wide open and pointed at Monty Krizan. The 65-year-old turned toward his hungry 8-foot-long friend and scolded him like a disobedient child.
"I said no, no, no. You back up right now," said Krizan, a Glenwood City native. "We don't put up with that behavior, buddy."
Krizan tapped a broomstick on Albert's snout and thick tail a few times to emphasize his point, bringing the excited alligator to a halt until he calmed down and rested on his belly again.
Moments later, Albert rested his elongated head on Krizan's lap as they both sat on the floor of a barn-sized garage that has cages, tanks and cases for about 70 reptiles.
Krizan and his traveling reptile show spend the summer months in Altoona with his brother, Brad Krizan. But the cold-blooded creatures and their owner head west to California when the Wisconsin weather turns chilly, all fitting into a Chevy van with temperature-controlled compartments for the animals.
Though he's been spending his life teaching audiences about reptiles and caring for the animals, Krizan said he enjoys his lifestyle too much to call it work.
"I haven't had a job in 35 years," he said, with a smile. "This is not work."
After doing some research on the rain forest, Krizan began hosting assemblies at schools in 1973 with the help of a pet python and iguana he had. Over the years, he estimated that he's done 10,000 school assemblies.
He also toured shopping malls, expo centers and even hosted a TV show in Canada for a time. Krizan remains a mainstay at Wisconsin and Minnesota state fairs.
Now at Social Security age, Krizan said he does less touring but enjoys appearing at classes of at-risk students in the California Community Colleges System.
"For some reason, they find a reason to listen to me," Krizan said as a snake furled its body around his arm.
In the years he's owned them, Krizan said he's been away from his reptiles for a month at the most while others have cared for them.
"You're kind of married to these," he said.
Some of Krizan's reptiles came from shelters that found them after owners abandoned them.
"Louie the Lip" is an Argentinian lizard called a tegu. He suffers from a broken jaw and amputated tail, but Krizan said he didn't want to see the animal put down.
"I can't see him not being able to live his life out," he said.
Other animals owned or bred by Krizan include three 20-foot long reticulated pythons, a 170-pound alligator snapping turtle and numerous iguanas, other lizards and snakes.
Bob Lewke, 64, taught biology classes at UW-Eau Claire and Chippewa Valley Technical College and he now instructs students at the recently opened Globe University on Eau Claire's southeast side. He also keeps about 30 snakes at his home just south of Eau Claire.
Lewke has seen Krizan's snake collection and said it's impressive, but he'd rather stick mostly to smaller species native to the Midwest.
"He's got some great snakes," Lewke said of Krizan's collection. "I personally don't want anything that big."
Altoona man lives with reptiles, including 8-foot gator