Cortland Standard .net

By AMY GERNON
Staff Reporter
agernon@cortlandstandard.net
A crowd of more than 300 children and adults gathered in the County Office Building gymnasium on Tuesday, eager to see a lineup of exotic creatures featured in the World of Wildlife Educational Encounters show.
Sponsored jointly by the county Youth Bureau and the Cortland Free Library as part of their Arts, Parks and Books series, the 45-minute show educated the public about animals from around the world, including reptiles, rodents, snakes, a cockatiel and a small, jittery tamarin monkey.
The first critter introduced to the group was a cute, but not so cuddly alligator named Stevie.
The 1 1/2-year-old alligator was about 18 inches long, but to demonstrate his full potential, Sally Reaves, founder of WOWEE, had two young audience members stretch out a cord measuring more than 10 feet.
“Alligators will grow about a foot a year, until they are about 10 years old and then they grow about 6 inches a year,” Reaves said, adding that alligators grow continuously throughout their lives.
Unlike the young audience members, Stevie does not have to worry about having missing teeth because whenever he loses a tooth, another one immediately replaces it, Reaves said.
The next creature to make an appearance was a long-necked mata mata turtle, a native of South America, whose shell resembles tree bark, and whose neck and head resemble fallen leaves.
The turtle’s neck can grow to over a foot in length and is so long that it cannot be retracted into its shell. Instead, the turtle uses his long snout like a snorkel so it can stay underwater for long periods of time hunting its prey, which include fish, Reaves said.
Reaves next introduced her African sulcata tortoise, the third largest tortoise species in the world. Unlike the smaller long-necked turtle, this herbivorous tortoise can retract into his own shell. After overcoming brief stage-fright, the tortoise was able to roam freely around the gymnasium, though it did not move very fast or get very far by the end of the presentation.
“I love teaching the kids and seeing the look on their faces,” said Reaves, a retired teacher who now owns an 11-acre farm in Rochester, where she rehabilitates and cares for exotic animals, many of whom are abandoned pets.
“I call them pets, but many of these animals do not make good pets,” Reaves stressed.
Spreading that message is part of the reason Reaves travels with some of her animals throughout upstate, in addition to educating youngsters who attend her shows.
Alyssa Harvey, who works for the library’s youth department, said the event is a great way to get kids excited about reading.
“We hope to encourage the kids to go to the library afterwards,” Harvey said. “We hope the presentation piques their interest in something they didn’t know about.”
The highlight of the show came when a spectator, youth bureau camp counselor Maggy Brown, volunteered to have three large snakes, including an albino boa, draped over her shoulders.
“I was a little nervous, but I just stood still and it wasn’t so bad,” Brown said.
Diane Batzing attended the wildlife show with her three grandchildren, all between the ages of 4 and 8.
“It’s live action, plus it’s fun for them to see all the other kids in the city,” Batzing said.