Bill Rautenstrauch
The Observer
COVE
A slimy cast of cold-blooded characters received a decidedly warm welcome at the the Ascension Camp in Cove Thursday.
One of those characters was a 15-foot python that wrapped itself around the body of Cody Swalberg.
The feeling was well, it was like nothing the local youngster had ever experienced.
"It was scary. He was actually pretty heavy, and I thought he would squeeze," Swalberg said after living through the
experience.
Swalberg was one of about two dozen youngsters who came out to hold, stroke, learn about, and marvel at Richard Ritchey's fantastic collection of reptiles, including tortoises, a Matamata turtle from South America, lizards, snakes, and, yes, even an alligator.
For more than an hour, the kids watched in wonder and excitement as Ritchey, known far and wide as The Oregon Reptileman, reached into boxes and came out with creatures few people ever get a chance to see up close.
It started with tortoises one native to Africa, the other native to California.
As a couple of young volunteers from the crowd held the beasts up for display, Ritchey related how most people think tortoises and turtles are the same things.
But there's a big difference, he said.
"Tortoises live on the land and turtles in the water," he said.
He noted that living on land has become dangerous for tortoises, especially in California.
"They're very rare. So many of them have been run over by cars," he said.
The Reptileman also explained to the audience how to tell the difference between a male and female tortoise.
He turned the Californian upside down and ran his hand over a depression in its belly.
"Boys have a dent. Girls don't. With girls, it's flat," he said.
The excitement went on,
non-stop.
Aided by his nephew, David Ritchey, the Reptileman came up with lizards, including a chameleon and a monitor lizard.
He showed off a gila monster, a creature native to Arizona, possessed of a coarse, beaded skin.
"I always say it feels like a basketball," Ritchey said.
At one point, Kiauna Fritz of Cove held a lizard in each hand while Ritchey placed a third one on her head.
"One of them was kind of jumping in my hand," Fritz said later. "I thought it might scratch me."
Ritchey brought out snakes ranging from pythons, to rattlers, to a copperhead, and the most deadly of all, the African mamba.
"It's the most dangerous snake in the world. It can kill an elephant with one bite," he said.
The kids had nothing to worry about, though, thanks to a surgical procedure for removing venom glands developed by Ritchey in the late 1980s.
Ritchey's reptiles are all non-poisonous, and it's safe to hold and touch them as long as the Reptileman is close by.
But never trust an anaconda.
"Nasty snake. I've been bitten over 100 times," Ritchey said.
Ritchey has been working with reptiles for more than 30 years. At first, he kept the creatures for his own enjoyment. Later he hatched his plan to share them with the world.
"About 1990, I decided I wanted to do something more positive than just keep pets," he said in an interview before Tuesday's show, which was sponsored by the Union County Library District Project.
He puts on about 450 demonstrations each year. He reckons he drives about 45,000 miles a year, appearing before crowds as few in number as five and as many as 800.
He lives in Molalla, and does work for humane associations and animal control agencies in the Portland area.
Often, he is called upon to pick up a reptile that someone has either lost or turned loose.
He keeps those that are a good fit for his show; he finds homes for others. A 2 1/2-foot American alligator he showed the children in Cove was one he rescued in Portland.
Ritchey works with museums, zoos and educators world-wide. He has provided reptiles for television shows, including those starring wildlife experts Jeff Corwin and Steve Irwin.
But meeting with children in presentations like the one in Cove remains one of his favorite activities, he said.
"Fear is a learned process, and kids haven't learned it yet. They're open minded," he said.
For his own part, Ritchey has never had a fear of reptiles. He said he loves them for their
personalities.
"They're so variable in their size, color and abilities, and in their temperaments, too. They have temperaments like human beings. Some can be mean, but others are very calm," he said.
Thursday's show was a part of "Claws, Paws, Scales and Tales," a reading program taking place in libraries across the state this summer.
Ritchey presented his show in Cove, Union, North Powder,
La Grande and Elgin. His appearance was funded by a federal Library Services and Technology Act grant obtained by the Library District Feasibility Committee.
Kat Davis, who chairs the committee and also serves as director of the Union County Library District Project, said other events are planned this summer. They include children's music performed by the Mud Pie Trio, and a children's theater performance by Cwerks, Inc.
"We're demonstrating the kinds of things that can be offered with improved library service," she said.
She said she thought Ritchey's show was a good one to start off with. "He did a fabulous job. He's done it for decades, and he really understands how to work with children," she said.
