Reptiles, etc

Above: Brave kids took advantage of an opportunity to hold a tarantula during the visiting Reptile Road Show at St. James Family Center on Saturday.

Top right: The Reptile Road Show's Garth Pithan brought out the heavy duty gloves when he pulled this big black snake out of it's container, telling everyone it was a venomous black mamba from Africa. When the kids showed little fear, he took off the gloves and let them in on the joke. It was actually a harmless black pinesnake, a native of the southeastern US.

Below, right: The Gila monster, a native of Arizona, is venomous, so Pithan kept his gloves on for his introduction.

Below, left: Pithan asked the audience for their ideas on how the corn snake got its name. After a couple suggestions that the snake liked to feast on corn, he explained that the snakes actually preferred corn fields because they attracted what the snakes really liked to eat--rodents.

Photos by Diana Zimmerman.