Do you remember your first experience with reptiles? I do, and it was painful.

The first reptile I remember was a “gardener” (ok I was 5 or so) snake that I took home. This was back 30 or so years ago when snakes were still plentiful in our neighborhoods. Not much has changed with the area, but the snakes are gone.

Proudly walking into the kitchen with my prize in hand, I encountered a very upset mother. Apparently she was not a fan of snakes, let alone a worm of a local garter. And, needless to say, the garter was not happy with my stress-induced squeezing and proceeded to musk my mother.

I was the kid who brought frogs and toads back to the family trailer at the campground. I was the kid chasing snakes thru the fields. I took a while to reconcile that 5-year-old child with my adult self, but eventually I did.

As we look at pending and proposed laws, I wonder, how many of our lives were shaped by those 5-year-old selves? For those of us who make our living from the industry portion of our community, do we remember that kid inside?

Let’s hear where your inner kid came from. What is the first experience you remember with a reptile?

Photo of the probable species garter I took home thanks to Erik Williams of the CHS.