Reptiles at Risk

Fear of the Unknown

Posted by Jeff Hathaway on July 28, 2010 at 8:38 PM

Our team has spent the last few days in Pukaskwa National Park, and what a beautiful park it is! We held a program here last Saturday with a great turn out of interested visitors and enthusiastic children. The staff here have also been very welcoming and friendly, and we would like to congratulate a number of them on overcoming their fears to touch and hold the snakes over the last few days. Great job!

While we were in the park the staff also taught us a little bit about living with bears. Bears are more often noticed in the park than snakes, so the staff were more familiar with this species. As a reptile interpreter I know very little about bears, and I would be far more nervous about seeing a bear in the woods than a snake (though in both cases, a wild animal left alone poses very little threat to humans). This firms up a trend we have seen in many programs before – fear and misconception often grow from the unknown or unfamiliar.

Today our program visited the Hornepayne Community Centre, and the group at first was a little nervous with the animals. With a little discussion and observation, however, they learned more about these creatures that seemed so foreign at the beginning. In little time at all they were eagerly lining up to hold all the snakes we had brought with us! One woman there had never held a snake before, and said she would shake any time one crossed her path in the woods. As she watched the younger group interact with the animals she also became more familiar with them, and we would also like to congratulate her for overcoming her fear!

Though fears and misconceptions can grow due to any number of reasons, through our programs it seems that unfamiliarity often plays a role. We are so glad that we have been able to increase understanding of reptiles through these programs, and learn about some of our own fears as well!

- Robin