See You Later Alligator.... After A While Crocodile

Today was a great day! It has been my favorite day of the summer camp I have been running so far. This week I am running a "GO WILD" Camp all about animals. Today we had a visit from the "Crocodile Man". He brought reptiles from all four of the reptile families...

Can you name the four reptile families????

TURTLES .... He brought ten different turtles and tortoises. There were 9 aquatic and 1 terrestrial turtles/tortoises. They were really cute. The kids LOVED them. We saw an Alligator Snapping Turtle - it is really cool. It has a red squiggly vein in it's mouth- it shakes it back and forth and it looks like a fishing lure... the fish swim right into his mouth- then SNAP! (Bye Bye FISHY!)

LIZARDS... He brought a bearded dragon for the kids to pet. His skin was really rough- it felt callused. He was a cutie though- he kept giving the trainer hugs on the arm-- and he would smile now and then at the kids.

SNAKES... My skin crawled as he pulled out 3 snakes and urged all of the students to touch them- then he came to me... I said "No thank you..." He teased me and got the kids to tease me- so I did it! I touched all 3 snakes... and (shock of all shocks)

I LOVED it! There was a beautiful sherbert colored Corn Snake, a White Rat Snake (Albino), and a Black Rat Snake. The Corn Snake was my favorite... so BEAUTIFUL. One of my first graders was chosen to come to the front of the room and the trainer put the snake on his arm and left him there to hang while he continued with other animals... The little boy wasn't even scared- he loved it. His mom was there taking pictures and he turned to her and said, "Can I get one?" You can imagine Mom's face...

CROCODILANS..... Or more commonly known as Alligators and Crocodiles... He brought BOTH. We pet the cutest baby alligator. Then he brought out a 4 foot Nile Crocodile... which brings me to my FAVORITE PART OF THE DAY! The trainer tested the children's knowledge on what each aniaml ate- when he got to the crocodile, he asked- "Can you guess what this guy's favorite food is?" A little kindergardner stood up behind his desk and was shaking like a leaf, and in complete seriousness said very faintly, "...HUMANS?" You could see the terror in his little face. It was so adorable! ( In case you're wondering, it isn't humans, - in the wild it is large game, and on the reserve it is chicken- LIVE chicken.) Another interesting fact about CROCS- they can run faster than a race horse for a short distance (about 30 yards or so).... so don't ever cross a Croc!

What an awesome day! I get PAID to do this!?!