I really, really, really like gross and weird and dangerous animals. I'm not a cat person, or a dog person, or even a hamster person; but I love toothy sharks and gigantic tigers and venomous snakes. I think they're cute. Like, in a slimy, scaly, misunderstood, poetic kind of way. Like, I would hug a boa constrictor if I didn't think he'd 'hug' me back. You know? They just have so much more personality than puppies or gerbils.I mean, I wouldn't want any of those things in my house, or living in the little river down the street, because most of the time I don't love being eaten or mangled, but I still get pretty excited about seeing them in real life.
And so it was that Barclay took me to Reptile World.
REPTILE WORLD, guys! {This is him trying to look pumped about paying eight bucks to stand in a room full of spitting cobras and deadly pythons.}I was very excited about it.
We got there just in time to watch them feed the snakes and alligators, one by one. You don't even want me to describe that part to you, but it was fantastic. The burmese pythons were my favourite. Those things could swallow you completely whole if they wanted to. Exhilarating.
There was also, among many other scaled things, a 600-pound alligator named Fred, who'd been adopted by Reptile World when a woman tried to smuggle him into Canada on an airplane in her carry-on luggage. {As a baby, obviously. But still. Silly idea. At best. If she could only see him now...}
The only other people at Reptile World were little boys with huge eyes, perched on their fathers' shoulders, cautiously peering around each corner and gasping out loud at the contents of each cage. I guess it's not that common of a romantic date destination. Whatever.
9 comments:
I love gross, scary animals too! Not spiders, but snakes and such. Rob refuses to get a snake as a pet though, LAME.
First of all...eww! Reptiles are gross (for the most part)! Crocodiles, alligators and lizards are pretty cool, but snakes? EWW!!! But...I have a seceret love of turtles...they are SO freaking cute...so i love the last picture!!!!
-Crystal
that looks AWESOME!
xx, kara
Is that in Drumheller? I went there once and the guy who was working there was trying to be cool in front of my friend and I and told us he could make the alligator roar.
We were like "alligators roar?" and he showed us how to piss it off by banging on the glass in a specific manor. It started shaking and bubbles came up all around it and it puffed up really big and freaking ROARED.
I felt bad because this teenage boy obviously bothers the poor alligator a lot, but it was still one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
I don't love such creatures but I am definitely fascinated by them.
Oh gosh. Reptile world sounds AMAZING.
We didn't have time to stop here this summer. I remember coming here though on a Grade 4 road trip and we all held the giant snake. Afterwards my best friend and I went and bought matching glow in the dark geckos. We still have them and she's still my best friend after all these years. :)
I would totally call you crazy if it weren't for my experience working at the Science Centre. I totally used to recoil at the thought of snakes particularly. Until I met a sweet little ball python. Seriously - he was such a sweet snake (weird, huh?), and the first snake I ever held. There was also an albino gopher snake, and she was downright elegant. So strange to think of reptiles having a personality like a dog... but it's true! (The turtles however, were not my friends.)
justine! you worked at the science centre!? how did i not know that. you are so cool.
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