THUNDER BAY – When she got out of bed on Friday morning, 12-year-old Kendra Charette had no idea she’d wind up face to face with a dangerous predator.
Hours later, with her Westmount Public School class visiting the weekend exhibit set up by Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo, the Grade 7 hopped up on stage and stroked a 10-year-old crocodile, whose growth was stunted from poor treatment by previous owners.
Kendra wasn’t sure what to think.
“It was kind of weird because the animal felt really weird,” she said.
“It had a really weird texture. It felt like a bone.”
The travelling show brought dozens of animals, ranging from fuzzy bunnies, owls and parrots to turtles, tarantulas and a large reticulated python that wrapped its thick, scaly coils around the torso of lead zookeeper Shawn Adderley.
But unquestionably the start of the show was Linus, a one-year-old sloth, whose natural habitat is the rain forests of South America.
The slow moving creature was who Carmen Pelletier was itching to see, after waiting through a 45-minute reptile show.
“I just find that sloths are really cute and just so mesmerizing. I like sloths,” Carmen said.
The 13-year-old wasn’t all that picky about her animals, finding lots to entertain her with at the show, being held at the Moose Hall on Water Street.
“It was so awesome to see different animals that you don’t really see in Thunder Bay. It’s just a cool experience.”
She also loved the python.
“The big snake was pretty cool too because I’ve never seen a snake that big before,” the Grade 8 teenager said.
Adderley, who understands zoos are often criticized for keeping animals in captivity, said there are many benefits to a traveling show like Reptile Ray’s, including a message of conservation.
It's also a chance to learn.
“It allows people a tangible experience to get up and close to some animals that otherwise they might not get to see other than sitting on the TV,” Adderley said.
“You can sit in front of a TV, you can watch David Attenborough talking to you, but there’s no interaction needed on your part, just mindless staring and watching. When you can come to our events you can see some animals and get a new appreciation for them. You don’t see spiders and snakes in the best light when you’re looking at them on TV.”
The exhibit is open on Friday until 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Two shows, Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo and Animal Ambassadors run 45 minutes apiece, alternating on the stage starting at 10:15 a.m. on the weekend.
General admission is $14.50, but sharing the event’s official page on social media will get a discounted $12.50 rate. Children two and younger are admitted free. A family of four is $56, $48 with a social media share.
