Fear Factor

Today I took one step towards overcoming my new found fear. Snakes.

I'm currently working with the education department at the Sedgwick County Zoo.  We have quite a number of animals that we use to teach the kids about.  They range from Madagascar hissing cockroaches to rabbits to jungle carpet pythons. My favorite animal in our collection are the crested geckos. They are very sweet and feel like velvet when they walk up your hand and arm. They are from the New Caledonian rainforests which is over there by Australia Erika. :)

My least favorite animal in our collection are snakes. Today it was the sand boas. Their head and tail look similar and they are small, but jerky.  I have been working with these animals for about 2 weeks now and I can handle most of them except for the skinks, snakes, and tarantula. So I thought I should try to overcome this fear.

Turns out, this will be a very long process. These snakes burrow under the sand and are used to sensing their  prey's vibrations above them.  For this reason you are to either come up underneath them or from the side. My trainer makes this look effortless. I tried today and I was able to touch it and then went to grab it when it quickly jerked back my way.  I then flung my arm back so hard I almost broke the glass with my Madagascar silver bracelet and I probably peed a bit. I took a few breaths as my trainer gave me a pep talk and I considered trying it again. I considered.  Then said "NOPE!"  So maybe next time I'll be brave enough to try again! Those of you who can handle reptiles I applaud you!