Things got wild at the Pierce County Library last Wednesday, June 14.
Tarah Oglesby of Wild Exotix came to the local library to let kids, and anyone else brave enough, get up close and personal with a variety of reptiles, including a timber rattler and a very large Burmese python.
A popular program, Pierce was the third and final stop on Oglesby’s tour of local libraries. Other Okefenokee Regional Library System locations she had visited that day included Ware and Clinch counties.
Sixty kids attended with their guardians and other curious adults, bringing the total to 125 people packed into one corner of the library.
Oglesby educated as she entertained, introducing animals like Goose the Argentine black and white tegu, a kind of monitor lizard, then talking about their diet and natural habitat. There were also tiny Greek tortoises, a striped knee tarantula, ball python and Corey the timber rattlesnake.
Guests were allowed to feel Corey’s noisy rattle at the end of his tail after Oglesby slipped the dangerous end of the snake into a protective plastic tube to prevent accidents.
When asked, Oglesby said the Burmese python is “one of my favorite species to work with.” Though they are an invasive species in the Everglades, she reminded listeners that Burmese pythons “did not ask to be here. They are just filling a niche.”
Excitement was at a fever pitch and library manager Lavonnia Moore had to restore order more than once, mainly reminding attendees to keep their voices down during the demonstration and to maintain a clear walkway in case anyone became nervous and needed a quick escape route.
