Evansville elementary students learn about snakes up close

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - As soon as Tri-State Herpetological Society President Chris Ulrich was done with his lesson, Reitz High School sophomore Ariel Smith dashed to the front of the room in hopes to be the first to hold Dixie.

Holding 9-year-old Dixie felt like wearing a vest, said Smith, 15.

"She was over my neck and through my arms," Smith said. "It felt like I was wearing a harness. She was really heavy, but it was really cool."

Ulrich brought Dixie, an 8-foot-long Colombian Red Tail boa constrictor, to Reitz Tuesday morning for Rachel Ordower's environmental science classes. This is the fourth year for "snake day," as it is nicknamed, when the Tri-State Herpetological Society teaches students about something that usually makes people nervous or scared.

Students learned where reptiles originate, how they behave and how to care for them as pets.

"We brought a bunch of our animals to show the kids, give a talk and give the kids a chance to interact with the animals so they can see that they're not the horrible killers they're sometimes portrayed as," Ulrich said.

The Evansville native has been involved with the herpetological society for six years, but his love of snakes began when he was 13 years old and got a tangerine Honduran milk snake. From there on, he brought everything from a baby California kingsnake to a boa constrictor, and a baby gecko to a 3-foot-long Argentine black and white tegu (a lizard).

"As soon as I say, 'OK, if anybody wants to hold anything, come on up,' we get rushed," Ulrich said.

Smith said she's never had an issue with snakes, but has always been afraid of them because most of society thinks they are scary.

"At first it was kind of scary," she said. "And then I thought it was cool."

Smith's friend, Autumn Burkhart, was interested in looking from a distance but had no desire to touch a reptile. Also a sophomore, Burkhart, 15, said her family used to have two snakes that her mom would let lose in the yard. She didn't want anything to do with those snakes.

"They're nasty," she said. "They're, eww. ... I don't even know how I'm going to get out (of the room) because they're all up there."

Ordower, who said she respects snakes but will never own one, said the event gets bigger and better every year. Last year she said more than 100 kids visited her classroom in a 90-minute period. She noted students are not forced to stay.

"But every year we have one student who is scared to death, in tears," Ordower said. "And by the end of the day, they're holding a snake."

Senior Zarek Golike said his California kingsnake and two corn snakes all escaped their cages - not all at the same time, but within a two-year timeframe. Golike, 18, said his dad was only upset because they were expensive pets, but noted they could help with potential mice around the house.

"I like how they're very chill," he said while holding a baby California kingsnake. "And they just observe everything around them."

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Source: Evansville Courier & Press, http://bit.ly/232ouZ5

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Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com