By Bonnie and Bill Neely
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Resort and Disneyland are certainly the most promoted and top attractions at Orlando, Florida, but there are some others we are so very glad we included when we took our 17 year old grandson for his birthday. He is a born naturalist, and his favorites include all the creepy-crawly species that scare most of us, but we were eager to take him to see his favorites!
Gatorland Wildlife Park is a special place to see gators up close and personal, VERY personal. We all enjoyed watching the alligators devour the raw chicken meat the workers fed them in their special pond. But I still wonder how chicken got to be on the alligator food chain? I guess gators escape their watery habitat to capture fowls in the wild often. We were on the board walk of the gator pond and were just a bit apprehensive. We knew that gators move very fast and will attack people, but these seemed to be too far below us to find a threatening escape route.
I took the dare offered by my grandson and by the on-site photographer and succumbed to having my photo made with the live boa constrictor adorning my shivering shoulders as I held the baby gator. Alex was thrilled when he got to do it and impressed that I would do this also! In retrospect, I am so glad I did!
But our favorite place of learning was the Reptile World Serpentarium in Saint Cloud, Florida, a few miles away. It is one of only a few science centers in the world in which the scientist milks venomous snakes for medical use of anti-venom to save lives of people bitten by the dangerous species. The milking takes place twice daily when a glass viewing window allows visitors to watch from a safe place. However, as journalists, Bill and I were permitted to be inside right beside the table on which George Van Horn, assisted by his wife Rosa, performed the milking. Having been a West Texas rancher, Bill is terrified of snakes and was very apprehensive as he peered at the numerous large boxes with a few breathing holes in them all around us on high shelves… with live serpents inside!
George had four stemmed crystal wine glasses set aside on the table, and one at a time, Rosa used her bare hands and took a snake from one of the boxes, carefully holding it behind the head with one hand, and the other firmly holding the snake near the end. She explained that a snake will wind its tail end tightly around one’s arm in order to strike if the long end is free.
First she carefully passed the moccasin to her husband, and we watched fascinated as the snake was placed so it would bite the lip of the glass and then strike into the container, releasing the venom so all could see. The crowd beyond the glass were in awe and we were memorized with fascination and fear. The next snake to be milked was a rattler, again collecting the venom into another wine glass. The third snake was a small, striped coral snake. George amazed us by feeding the snake baby food and we watched its mid-section swell and George slid his grip down the snake’s length. Then he place the serpent adjacent to its own goblet so its venom could be collected.
From small to enormous, the fourth and final snake was a 12-foot-long King Cobra. We were very interested because we had just been in India and watched the snake charmers play a flute to induce a cobra to rear up and “dance.” Although inwardly I knew the ones in India had been de-fanged and rendered harmless, I was calmed and enraptured by the milking about to take place. But suddenly the huge snake leapt from George’s grip and landed at my feet! Forgetting this serpent was not safe, I calmly stepped back, still fascinated, but George and Rosa were quick to remove the danger as we stepped farther back. Then George told us once long ago a cobra had bitten him when a group of school children were watching. Thinking this was like a TV show, they clapped with glee. But he showed us his shortened finger where that Cobra bitten him, and he was hospitalized for a long time in grave danger. In our alarming situation, Bill had dropped his camera and forgotten to take an image of my predicament, but we escaped safely with a great story to tell.
NOTE: Order our travel book: Real Ventures: Did We Really Do That?!! by Bonnie Burgess Neely. With five stars everywhere online (AmazonBooks; Barnes&Noble; Google;ITunes and wherever books are sold) Our true travel stories will give you MANY LAUGHS and some GASPS of things that happened to us as we drove mileage equivalent to 3 trips to the moon or around the earth’s equator 25 times, taking in 9 countries including all over the USA, Canada, and Central America. Give yourself and loved ones this gift of fun leisure time reading!IF YOU GO: https://www.reptileworldserpentarium.net/about-us, https://www.gatorland.com/
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