I had my second class at Currumbin last night. This time we met Joshua who is a reptile specialist. The main focus of the evening was going to be on:
- Lizards
- Snakes
- Crocodiles
- Turtles
This time I got to handle and play with a Blue Tongue Lizard, two types of Carpet Pythons, and a young Saltwater Crocodile. The lizards just chilled out on the handlers hands as they were taken around and introduced to each of us. If you saw one in the bush, you could easily mistake it for a short fat snake due to their very tiny legs. The first python wrapped in to ball (around my wrists) as it tried to suck as much warmth out of my hands as it could (its amazing how much muscle control they have). The croc surprised me, I was expecting a hard scaly coating, but he was quite soft and flexible (I can see why they are farmed for their skins). He was about 4 years old and about 5 feet long, and they had his mouth taped up for our safety. Unfortunately, we had a limited time to view him because he was due to meet the night tour a little later on.
After the Q&A we all headed out to the “Naturally Wild Rainforest Exhibit” (which you can see pictures from my first visit to Currumbin here). It’s a large enclosed exhibit with reptiles, fish, fauna, nocturnal mammals, etc. While wandering around one of the classmates (who also was a volunteer at Currumbin) noticed a Squirrel Glider was loose from his (her?) exhibit, so we there was a bit of excitement as they caught the glider and returned it back to the habitat.
Next week is all for the birds.