By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
The Crawford Park District opened its doors Saturday to a wide variety of animals. From turtles and snakes to geckos and lizards, all manner of reptiles and other animals could be found at Lowe-Volk Nature Center for the Park District’s annual Animal Extravaganza event.
Crestline resident Chuck Yaussy thought the event was the perfect opportunity to get kids accustomed to snakes and other animals that might otherwise scare them. Yaussey had ball pythons, a corn snake, two different types of rat snake from Asia, box turtles, and turtles native to Florida and Louisiana on hand for children and families to view or even handle.
Yaussy’s interest in reptiles started when his mother let him have a fish tank as a kid to house turtles. It just blew up from there.
Yaussy loves being able to attend the Animal Extravaganza event. “I try to make it every year, some days it doesn’t work. To get the young kids unafraid of them, they won’t go out and spread their phobia to the rest of the world.”
“When they’re this young, they’re just curious. There’s no bias, no prejudice, anything. They don’t care, they just want to experience anything,” said Yaussy.
A ball python was slung around Yaussy’s neck for much of the afternoon and he wasn’t the only one to sport a snake around his neck. Snakes of various sizes could be found being handled by nearly everyone at the Animal Extravaganza event.
Dena Kilgore had brought her two children, Jacob and Riley, to the Animal Extravaganza. It is something she likes to attend every year with her kids.
“It is something special. It’s free and the staff does a great job with the kids. We go to the Nature Camp every year with them. We just have so much fun. It’s a very safe environment. Lots to look at, lots to learn.”
A photo gallery of the event is on this site’s Photo page.