I had always hated snakes. Not because any had done me any harm but I guess because the Bible had been drilled into my head as a child and you know, the snake and poor Eve had been blamed for all the
troubles in the world.
In reality though, many snakes are very dangerous and should be carefully avoided.
However, around ten years
ago, I met a wonderful young man named
Mark. Mark and I pose with his scarlet macaw. |
He is not only
an extremely talented artist, but also the most interesting animal lover I had
ever encountered.
At the time, among
his pets were an iguana and a snake. Well, I hate lizards and would never
consider going within ten miles of any, (thank god he got rid of it!) but he had such intriguing snake tales
that I became curious.
He had actually bred them and soon convinced me that they
were not cold and yucky as I had always imagined but rather the skin is more
velvety.
|
My first encounter with Yogi |
So he brought Yogi, a Colombian red-tailed Boa, to
my home, wearing him around his neck as if he were decoration.
At first, I was
horrified but after finally touching him, I too took the next step, a bit
tepidly I will admit.
Soon Yogi, the snake was in my home
slithering all over me and the furniture curiously.
At that time he weighed
around 20 lbs. and was being fed with one white mouse MONTHLY, for
that’s how long it takes a boa to digest its meal.
He had bought this much
maligned pet when it was a baby, only about one foot long.
Soon, he even learnt
to breed them and had on occasion appeared on the local television, then JBCTV,
to talk to kids about caring for snakes.
|
Mark the snakeman
|
As we became closer over the years, it was not
surprising that on returning home for vacation recently, one of the
first persons I had to see was Mark and on learning that he had now added birds
to his collection, I had to visit his mini zoo. |
Mark with birds Stitch and Coco
Yogi has grown considerably
since I last saw him, weighing 60 lbs. now and now digesting a rabbit instead a
mouse monthly.
Soon I was introduced to
the birds, Stitch, a scarlet Macaw, Coco an Amazon Parrot, Goldie an Indian
Ringlet, and Sunshine a Sun conure. |
To tell the truth, although I loved all the birds, only Coco loved me back.
For when Stitch was taken out of his cage, he tried to pick me when I touched him. And when he was put on the ground, he immediately attacked my toes with his sharp beak.
It
was a similar story with Goldie and Sunshine, but Coco was super friendly, even doing a
dance for me later on, although he refused to speak when I was there.
However,
Mark’s mom told me that as soon as his owner arrives from work in the
afternoons and opens the gate, Coco would start shouting "Mark" until he is inside. LOVELY PETS.
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