PERRY, Ga. — Don't throw a hissy — shed back any preconceived notions you may have about snakes, alligators and other reptiles through an entertaining show at the fair.
Southeastern Reptile Rescue is educating an audience for 11 days every day at the Georgia National Fair.
The animal protection organization is based in Central Georgia and works to protect snakes by preventing inhumane deaths, captures and harassment.
President Jason Clark says they'll show over 30 animals at the fair in Perry, including tortoises and gators.
He's encouraging everyone — from snake lovers to haters — to check it out because "at some point in your life, you'll come across a snake."
"People ask me, you know, 'Is this a good snake?'" Clark said. "There's no such thing as a bad snake. There's people who do dumb things around snakes and then bad things happen. If you go outside, you're where snakes live. If you're where snakes live, use common sense. You don't have any? Find a friend who does and hang out with them."
Some may think they'll act hiss-terically if they're afraid of snakes, but you'll be with the experts. That way, you can scale back your fear expectations of animals, like Investigator the American Alligator.
"He gets handled quite a bit," Clark said. "Somebody had this alligator as a pet. You can't have these in Georgia. Once you have them in captivity and you feed the gator, you're teaching it people are food."
Clark's collection comes mostly from rescuing snakes and alligators from places where they're unwanted. He also gets some goodies from ecologists, such as snakeskins seized by the federal government.
Southeastern Reptile Rescue will put on four 30-minute shows every day of the Georgia National Fair. They'll start at 2 p.m., 4 p.m.., 6 p.m. and the final show is at 8 p.m..
Come one, come all — and conquer your fear at the Georgia National Fair!