Rainforest Reptiles return to Performing Arts Center
By Leah Brown
September 17, 2014
922
There are few things more exciting for kids than getting an up close and personal look at some scaly critters. Thats exactly what they got to do at the Rainforest Reptile Show at the Performing Arts Center Monday, Sept. 15.
Rainforest Reptile Shows is a family-operated conservation organization based in Massachusetts. Its goal is to educate about reptiles around the world and the importance of preserving their natural habitat. Married cofounders Joaney M. Gallagher and Michael K. Ralbovsky have done programs throughout the U.S. and have a soft spot for teaching children.
Ralbovskys enthusiasm was apparent before the show even began. As patrons and their families entered the centers lobby, they were allowed to play with the couples search and rescue dog Bane, a Shiloh Shepherd, and ask questions about the animals to be featured in the show. Ralbovsky answered each question with gusto and generally provided more information than necessary, but also delivered facts in a kid-friendly way.
The show was no different. To make both kids and their parents more comfortable, Ralbovsky and Gallagher both introduced themselves and cracked a few jokes about Bane falling asleep during their boring shows. Ralbovsky also explained he was not just any herpetologist, but Reptile Man: Stronger than an angry crocodile and able to leap tall trees in a single bound.
Each animal he showed had been rescued from an abusive situation or saved from being stranded after a storm or natural disaster. An alligator snapper that was found in the middle of the road after a hurricane displaced him, a rattlesnake that was left in an aquarium at a hotel in Massachusetts and an American alligator that was abused by his owners each made an appearance.
Throughout the show Ralbovsky asked children from the audience on stage to hold and interact with the animals he brought with him. The firstand smallestof these critters was a marine toad, more commonly referred to as a cane toad.
As a little boy from the audience readied himself to hold the toad, Ralbovsky informed him that the toad was capable of eating birds, bats and other large animals. He was also told that the toad was capable of making a human sick in the hospital for three days. Of course, none of this information deterred the boy, who had a blast holding the toad anyway.
The largest animal, a 10-foot boa constrictor, was equally exciting for the five little girls that lined up to hold it.
Ralbovsky and Gallagher both stressed that some reptiles can be dangerous when provoked, but there is nothing scary about them and they dont normally attack humans.
After the show the pair were in the lobby again to answer questions, this time bringing Fred the Alligator with them for the kids to touch.
The Rainforest Reptile Show mixed a bit of fun with important information for the future of reptiles around the world. And they put on a show those kids wont soon forget.
