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ARIZONA REPUBLIC (Arizona) 29 September 03 Museum keepers doing venomous-reptile presentations
Tucson (AP): For the first time in the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum's 51-year history, keepers are doing presentations with live venomous reptiles.
Response to the daily hour-long presentations, which began this month, has "taken off like crazy," said Bill Altimari, an animal keeper at the museum.
"People are fascinated with the West, and rattlesnakes are an icon for the West," said Craig Ivanyi, curator of herpetology, ichthyology and invertebrate zoology at the museum. "They want to be able to learn more about snakes and see them up close, but in a safe manner, so they feel secure."
Though Ivanyi and his keepers do make the crowd feel secure, they don't shy away from doling out hard facts about the animals and about how it feels to be bitten.
"It's like liquid fire. It may not kill you, but you'll wish you were dead," Ivanyi said.
Museum keepers doing venomous-reptile presentations

It's about time! ~~Greg~~