A Skink and a Snake: They Touched Them

So what the heck is a skink, you ask? Simsbury preschoolers and kindergarteners who attended the “Story Stars: Outrageous Reptiles” educational program on Tuesday at the can tell you because they saw one in the flesh.

“He is really creepy,” said the lively 4-year-old Will after touching the skink. Will and his mother, Gail Saunders, attended the event and often get a lot of their educational experiences at the library.

“He is not creepy," said Rae Griffiths, who owns Teaching Creatures, the group behind the program. "You were very gentle. Thank you,” she said as she offered the skink to others to feel for themselves.

Griffiths brought a snake called “Blaze” and a blue-tongued skink called “Foster” as a part of her educational program. The Belchertown, Mass.-based Teaching Creatures, offers live animal educational programs that focus on making informed and positive connections between people and animals, insects and reptiles to foster curiosity and teach respect for nature.

Griffiths, who has been educating children, scouts, and adults in museums, libraries, schools and birthday parties for more than 20 years, read the story Little Skinks Tale to the children prior to introducing the lizard. The story talked about the skink’s trick. Skinks can snap off their bright blue “wiggling waggling tail” which distracts predators like crows from capturing them. The blue-tongued skink, native to Australia, is then able to grow another tail over time as they grow into adulthood.

“He might not want to eat his snack because he ate a lot of crickets yesterday,” said Griffiths as the children watched the skink seem indifferent to the grapes and wiggly worms offered for his snack.

After reading I Need a Snake, a story about a child named Robbie who tells his mom he would like a snake for a pet, Griffiths brought out Blaze, a coral colored corn snake that slithered around her hands and arm contentedly.

“Snakes are a lot of work, so it may not be the best pet for Robbie,” said Griffiths.

“It looks like a belt,” said one observant girl as Griffiths explained that Blaze was raised in captivity and is habituated to people and being touched.

“The biggest misconception about snakes is that they are all aggressive, that they are all ready to bite. It is an interesting phobia because it is usually adults and it is cross cultural,” said Griffiths. “People often can’t explain why they are afraid. They have a physiological reaction and panic.”

“They (snakes) don’t blink and that scares people sometimes. People think they will be slimy and are surprised when they find they are smooth, soft and dry,” she said.

The children took their turns finding out for themselves, describing Blaze as “friendly” and “sticky,” and I can tell you this mom of a similarly brave preschooler took their word for it.

See www.teachingcreatures.com for more information about Rae Griffiths and her programs.