My Initiation into the World of Wildlife

My interest in wildlife spiked with the introduction of snakes by Steve Irwin.  I saw him on TV handling highly venomous and aggressive snakes, then they would calm down and he would handle them with great gentleness.  This had my twelve year old mind all perplexed.  I saw an entirely new side to snakes that no one had ever taught me.  Snakes didn't want to attack me, they wanted simply escape from me.  I decided that I was going to catch the next non venomous snake I could find.  After all, the guy on TV did it!  I walked out the back door of my porch and a black racer and I surprised each other.  This was my chance to really get experience what a snake is really like.  I cornered it by the chimney and hesitated to grab it.  I just had to go for it though.  My first attempt was greeted with quick bite to the hand.  Obviously I had done something wrong.  I gave  it two more shots and was rewarded with the same reaction as the first attempt.  I instructed my older brother to keep an eye on it and I fetched my gardening gloves.  Now I was prepared!  I went for the grab and all that poor snake could do was chew into the leather and I didn't feel a thing.  I picked it up and sure enough it calmed down.  This is where the interest in snakes really began.  I read every related piece of literature and spent countless hours online reading about reptiles.  This obsession veered out into lizards, turtles, crocodilians, and eventually pretty much every type of creature on earth.  I've realized that all the animals and plants are interdependent and just as interesting as any other creature.

Me with my first snake!