I'm now volunteering at Beaver Water World (http://www.beaverwaterworld.com) for one day most weekends, as a reptile handler. I sit in the educational unit (or at a table outside if the weather's good enough) and give visitors the opportunity to touch and hold various snakes and lizards, answer their questions, explain the events we can provide (children's parties, school and group visits, etc.), and sometimes introduce the idea of adopting a rescued reptile from us.
It's great fun and very rewarding; almost every time I've been there I've helped people overcome their phobia of snakes.
It also has some quite funny moments.
By the nature of the place, you never know what's going to happen next. Take, for example, the Giant African Land Snails. Please.
In theory, anyone asking us to take in animals should be referred to the Director, Stella. In practice, certain of the paid staff will agree to us taking in corn snakes, bearded dragons, leopard geckos and the like; they are common and easily rehomeable. That's the reptiles, not the staff. Anything more unusual really should be referred to Stella.
One Sunday a month or so back we had hit a quiet patch in the educational unit when Stella marched in and slammed a small tank down onto a table.
"Snails!"
It turned out that someone had 'phoned up, spoken to one of the staff, and been told that we would take their collection of Giant African Land Snails, and had then arranged for them to be brought in on a day she wasn't working. Sure enough, at around 2.30 they brought in and left a small tank containing around a dozen snails of varying sizes.
Stella wasn't happy. She explained that she'd had nothing to do with GALS for the last 30 years, and wasn't planning to start now. As far as she was concerned, the staff member who had agreed to take them in could take them home the next day she worked. And in the mean time, Stella didn't want to see them, which is why she had brought them to the educational unit rather than keep them in the main block.
Stella left, and some visitors came in, so we resumed handling.
A little while later, a father and daughter came in. From their behaviour and what was said, we guessed that parents were divorced or separated, and father had the little girl - aged seven or eight - at weekends.
The girl loves the snakes and lizards we had out for handling, and wanted to touch and hold everything. And, to be fair, she was very good with them. She also kept asking "Can we have one?", to which the answer was no.
Just as they were leaving, she spotted the tank of GALS on the table by the door.
"Can I touch one?" Yes, of course.
"Can I hold one?" Yes, if you can detach one from the side of the tank. In fact you can have them if you like.
Father looked interested. GALS are easy to care for, and don't take up much room. In fact, they are just about the perfect pet to be put in a corner and ignored for the week, then to be fed, cleaned out and petted at the weekend.
So the girl held one, stroked it, inspected it in detail, and asked "Can we have one?"
Father asked "Could we really have one?" Yes, you can have them all if you like.
"In that case, I'll need to get a tank". No, you can take the whole set-up, just as it is.
"Do you really mean that?" Yes. He still looked disbelieving, so I offered to go and check with the Director.
I found Stella in the main block, in conversation with someone else about rehoming some snakes. I apologised for interrupting, but explained we had a father a daughter wanting to take the entire GALS set-up.
Stella looked at me in disbelief for about 0.3 of a second, then asked "How much do they want us to pay them?"
So I returned to the educational unit, and informed the father that he really could take everything, then and there. He immediately took out his wallet and gave us a donation to the charity, then took the tank and snails back to his car, before continuing his tour of the zoo with a very happy daughter.
At the end of the day, we met up with Stella, reassured her that the GALS had gone, and handed over the donation. I've rarely seen her happier!
