TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL (Saint John, New Brunswick) 31 December 13 Face to face with exotic creatures (Ryan Melanson)
Saint John: A 20-foot long python sprawled across the floor of the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre, on a normal day, would certainly be cause for alarm.
That wasn't the case on Saturday, however, as animal care worker Shane McConnell sat with the monstrous reticulated python, with hordes of both children and adult onlookers circled around, some even brave enough to pet the nearly 200-pound creature, native to southeast Asia.
The occasion marked the return of the Ottawa-based Ray's Reptile Zoo to the city, bringing along its impressive collection of snakes, alligators, scorpions, tarantulas, turtles, other amphibians and reptiles and even birds.
The animals invaded the Trade and Convention Centre through Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
McConnell shared facts about the python with a small crowd, explaining that he only eats dead animals, to curb aggressiveness, and also busting the common myth that snakes have no bones.
"It's because they're so flexible that many people think that, but they actually have more bones than we do," he said, as he showed off the hundreds of small ribs on the reptile's underside.
Wearing a plush version of the snake around his heck, nine-year-old snake enthusiast Noah Leblanc was in awe as he watched the slithering beast.
"It's just amazing, really cool. I'm a big, big fan of snakes. I think they get a bad reputation a lot of the time," said the youngster.
Not all of Little Ray's animals are of the threatening type, however, as highlighted by Trucker, a 60-pound African Spurred Tortoise, who showed no signs of discomfort as he got a pet on the head from one zoo-goer.
"They tolerate it very well, he just sits there. If he was threatened or uncomfortable with people touching him, he would either hide himself or try to run away, or walk away, slowly." said (Kangaroo) Kevin Orr, who travels the country with Little Ray's.
He explained that Trucker was a rescue, adopted from an owner who could no longer take care of him, as is the case with a majority of the travelling zoo's creatures. A misconception, he said, is that rescued exotic animals often come from abusive owners.
"They're usually very well cared for before they find their way to us."
For those with an interest in more airborne animals, a display invited visitors to compare their wingspans to that of their favourite birds, from 35 feet for the peregrine falcon, to the 85-foot span of the golden eagle.
Expert James Cowan gave a presentation, one of many through the weekend, on birds of prey, giving details as the birds themselves soared around his audience. He gave a special focus to the red-tailed hawk, a predator found in all 10 provinces through summer months.
Because of this, the hawk has been the centerpiece in a petition, put together by Little Ray's and currently containing 87,000 signatures, to establish a national bird of Canada.
"We are literally the only country in the world that does not have a national bird," Cowan told the crowd.
"This bird has more votes, more signatures, than any other species."
For more information on Little Ray's next visit, head to raysreptiles.com
Link

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]