“She doesn’t usually like snakes,” commented Alli Hansen’s mother, surprised to see the 6-year-old’s hand shoot into the air Thursday afternoon at the Evergreen State Fair.
The “Reptile Man,” Scott Peterson, was asking for volunteers to help hold a piece of the 12 foot-long albino python unraveling itself before the crowd of families gathered at the Courtyard Stage, and Alli was one of seven children chosen to help stretch the snake out to its full length.
“Humans aren’t born afraid of snakes,” said the Reptile Man.
He explained that we learn to be afraid of them by watching our parents and seeing how they are portrayed in our culture. Peterson hopes to undo that fear by exposing folks to snakes and other reptiles through education and his reptile zoo, the Serpentarium on U.S. 2, east of Monroe.
Alli’s hesitation was short-lived. Soon the python was being passed from child to child as the show ended and the crowd surged onto the stage. Alli surrendered the snake to pet Lucy the alligator, an animal the Reptile Man has raised since its birth. A giant tortoise crawled across the lawn surrounded by children on their hands and knees smiling and laughing as the turtle, undisturbed, chewed on grass. Alli continued back and forth, petting the alligator, peering at the tortoise, checking in on her new friend the python.
Soon the crowd began to thin, children returned to their parents ready to move on to the rest of the fair, and the reptiles returned to their boxes. The Courtyard Stage needed to be cleared for the rest of the day. A comedian and juggler, the opening day ceremony, and the bubble gum-blowing contest would all take the stage in the next few hours. As Alli returned to the crowd where her mother sat, a new expression graced her face. No fear, no uncertainty, just a simple smile.
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