ArcaMax

By Bonnie and Bill Neely

Universal Studios and Walt Disney World are certainly the top attractions in Orlando, Florida, but we're glad we included some others when we took our 17-year-old grandson for his birthday. He is a born naturalist, and his favorite creatures include all the creepy-crawly species.

Gatorland wildlife park is a special place to see gators up close and very personal. We all enjoyed watching the alligators devour the raw chicken meat the workers fed them in their special pond, but we were on a boardwalk and just a bit apprehensive. We knew that gators move very fast and will attack people, but these were too far below us to create a threat.

I took the dare offered by my grandson and the on-site photographer and succumbed to having my photo taken with the live boa constrictor adorning my shivering shoulders as I held a baby gator. Alex was thrilled when he got to do it and impressed that I would do it, too, so it made for a nice memory.

Our favorite place for learning was the Reptile World Serpentarium in St. Cloud, just a few miles away. It is one of only a few science centers in the world where scientists milk venomous snakes for medical use in antivenoms to save the lives of people bitten by the dangerous species.

The milking takes place twice daily, and visitors watch safely through a viewing window. As journalists, we got permission to be inside, right beside the table on which George Van Horn, assisted by his wife, Rosa, performed the milking. He had four stemmed crystal wine glasses set aside on the table, and one at a time, Rosa took a snake from one of the boxes with her bare hands, carefully holding it behind the head with one hand and the other firmly holding the snake near the end. She explained that a snake will wind its tail end tightly around one's arm in order to strike if the long end is free.

First she carefully passed the snake to her husband, and we watched, fascinated, as he placed it so it would bite the lip of the glass and then strike into the container, releasing the venom. The crowd beyond the window was in awe and mesmerized with fascination and fear. Van Horn collected the venom of the next snake, a rattler, into another wine glass. The third snake was a small, striped coral snake. He amazed us by feeding the snake baby food, which caused its midsection to swell. Then he slid his grip down the snake's length and placed it adjacent to its own goblet so its venom could be collected.

He moved from small to enormous. The fourth and final snake was a 12-foot-long king cobra. We were interested because we had watched snake charmers in India play a flute to induce a cobra to rear up and "dance." I knew the ones in India had been defanged and rendered harmless, so I was calm and fascinated by the milking about to take place.

Then suddenly, the huge snake leapt from George's grip and landed at my feet. Forgetting this serpent was not safe, I calmly stepped back, still fascinated, but Van Horn and his wife were quick to remove the danger. He told us that one time a cobra had bitten him when a group of schoolchildren were watching. Thinking this was like a TV show, they clapped with glee. But he showed us his shortened finger where that cobra bit him, and he was hospitalized for a long time in grave danger. In our alarming situation, Bill dropped his camera and forgot to take an image of my predicament, but we escaped safely with a great story to tell.

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WHEN YOU GO

www.gatorland.com

www.reptileworldserpentarium.net/about-us

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Bonnie Neely is the author of "Real Ventures: Did We Really Do That?" which is available at www.amazon.com. She and her husband Bill are freelance writers. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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