JAMESVILLE – Clark Reservation State Park welcomed in a selection of cold-blooded wildlife species from Utica Zoo on July 16.
The interactive outdoor program, which took place next to the Jamesville park’s Nature Center, featured a mobile exhibit of reptiles and insects for attendees to learn about and pet if they were willing.
The group of animals that day included Winston, a blue-tongued skink, as well as Leo the leopard tortoise, who spent the presentation roaming around the grass in search of clover.
The visitors from the zoo also presented Madagascar hissing cockroaches, which will let out a loud hiss when touched to scare away predators. Justin Horender, who goes by the title of zoo educator, said the rainforest roaches have been used for effect in the “Indiana Jones,” “National Treasure” and “Men in Black” movie franchises because of how large they are.
The last animal shown to the group in attendance was a 30-year-old ball python named Lizzie. Described as “slithery,” non-venomous and nocturnal, Lizzie is considered the matriarch of the regional zoo’s ambassador animal collection, which is a list of animals not on regular exhibit and only viewable through events like that morning’s ZooMobile program.
Horender said that particular python is “harmless by snake standards” and that she smells with her forked tongue to monitor the environment around her.
According to zoo intern Kat Hawley, Lizzie is only fed once every two weeks and had just come off a stretch where she willingly did not eat for nine months.
Horender said the animals for the state park visit were chosen with the intention to dispel myths and unfriendly connotations attached to certain scalier creatures and ones thought of as pests.
“Definitely part of our goal is to educate people who may have misconceptions,” Horender said. “Sometimes people change their mind, and then there’s still those people who never quite get over it, which is okay too. I’ve had crowds before where people have excused themselves and want nothing to do with it when the snake comes out, and on rare occasions even scream.”
Hawley said, however, that Clark Reservation had a “great group” of inquisitive, invested and excited listeners that Sunday morning.
The same ZooMobile presenters will be back at Clark Reservation on Aug. 20, likely with a different assortment of animals. Through the summertime, which is the visiting program’s busy season, the Utica Zoo educators and interns usually bring along cold-blooded animals. At other times of year, animals like opossums and porcupines are showcased.
The program is conducted at various places in communities within roughly an hour and a half of the Mohawk Valley region, including different parks, schools, libraries, senior living facilities and shopping malls.
