Natalie and Abby love animals. They may not know all their ABC's, but they can tell you where a Panda Bear lives and what it eats (China - Bamboo), what kind of animals have a pouch and some examples (marsupials - kangaroo, koala), and identify at 3 kids of sharks (hammerhead, tiger and great white) and 2 kids of whales (orca and humpback), and a whole bunch of other cool stuff.
They get this mostly from me as I could watch Animal Planet all day (the good stuff - not the weird Animal Cops and Pet Psychics), although Ben does have a healthy fascination with Blue Planet and Planet Earth. I especially love the cats, particularly big cats, dolphins, whales, sharks, and snakes. Yes, snakes. Just call me The Crocodile Hunter.
I have this thing about snakes - and the fear of snakes. I believe the fear of snakes is taught - not inherent. Therefore, the opposite can also be taught - fascination and a healthy dose of respect.
The good thing about living in NC is that there are only 4 types of poisonous snakes here so one's chances of coming across one are relatively small, unlike some countries, like Australia, where practically every snake you see will kill you. Here, even the most common venomous snake in this area, the copperhead, is extremely unlikely to kill you. Oh, it will hurt, but you won't die. Contrary to popular belief however, NC is not run amok with Copperheads. People just think they are everywhere They mistakenly confuse any number of poor non-venomous snakes with the copperhead, resulting in many, many needless deaths (of the snakes, not people).
A favorite story of mine:
My little friend, Hannah (about 9) and I were traveling to my mom's in the mountains. Just before her house, I saw a snake on the road, and of course, stopped to investigate and get it off the road. It was already severely injured and I believe was either some kind of corn snake or water snake, snakes with coloring that are often mistaken for copperheads. As we were looking at it, someone stopped to see if we needed help. As they pulled over, I whispered to Hannah, "watch, they are going to think it's a copperhead. Everyone always thinks EVERY snake is a copperhead". The man looked out, took a look at the snake, and announced, "that's a copperhead." Nope. Sorry.
All this to calm the fears of all those who are about to freak out at the following picture:
While working in the yard Saturday, I found two little snakes hiding under some slate. Two different kinds, I think, but both too small to even bite - and of course, they weren't copperheads.The kids loved them. They have no fear. But, they do have healthy respect. They been drilled to know to never touch a snake without asking Mommy first. (Frankly, even Daddy wouldn't touch it without asking Mommy first.) They know snakes can bite and some can hurt you and make you sick and even kill you. I'm not into sugar-coating it. But, I'm also teaching them that snakes play an important part in the ecosystem and that there is no reason to be paranoid and afraid. Respect is good. Fear - not so much.
I believe strongly that educating reduces fear. Another favorite story:
One summer at camp, where I was on staff, it seemed we had an unusual number of snakes on the river that runs through the camp. The same river we tube, canoe and swim in. On one tubing run, I remember looking over at a rock and seeing 3 or 4 snakes sunning themselves. 99.9% of the snakes we see at camp are harmless - water snakes or black snakes. On the water, they are almost all water snakes.
One particular tubing run, I was with a boy, JC, who was about 10ish. He was deathly afraid of snakes. He made me stick by him to protect him from the snakes for the whole run. I wisely failed to point out the several snakes I saw along the way. Near the end, however, we both spotted a snake on the bank. He promptly freaked out. I calmly and confidently told him that the snake wouldn't hurt us, was more afraid of us and would just go the other way. JC is still freaking out. Then, the snake, a rather sizable water snake, did something I'd never seen a snake do. It left it's perch on the bank, entered the water, and swam straight for us. I put my tube out between us and the snake, because, what else could I do? (There was no way to get out of the water, expect towards the snake. JC is really freaking out now, and I'm beginning to consider joining him especially when the snake disappears under the water about ten feet in front of us.
Well, we high-tail it out of there, JC's bum held high above the water on his tube and me praying I don't feel anything slithering by my legs. At the first place to exit the water, JC was outta there.
I really felt bad for JC's overwhelming fear. He was really, really shaken up. (He later declared me one of the heroes in his life for "saving him from the snake", which might have been a bit over dramatic.) So, I pulled out my trusty snake books and persuaded him to sit with me and look at the pictures and try to identify the snake. After a while, he became interested. Later that day, there just so happened to be another snake in the swimming area. This time, JC agreed to approach it with me to check it out and after, helped me try to figure out what kind it was. At some time after that, he said to me, "you know, snakes aren't so scary when you know a little about them".
Ding..ding..ding...A little education goes a long way.
I don't want my girls to fear nature. I want them to respect it and know that some things can hurt them and that they have to be careful and always listen to mommy and daddy. I also don't want to sugar-coat the reality of the animal world either. You can't watch Big Cat Diary for long without seeing the lions go after the gazelle. The girls are learning that "some animals eat other animals because that's the way God made them".
Well, that's my little science lesson for the day:-) For those still with me, here are some more pics of the girls and a video.
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