Gabe’s Story: Future Herpetologist

In our last post, we mentioned one young man (Gabe Brown) with a passion for reptiles. For several years, we have been asking young people such as Gabe to provide us with an article telling how and why they have developed such an interest in these often misunderstood animals. So far, Gabe is the only one who has followed through.  

Here is Gabe’s Essay:

Hi, my name is Gabe. I’m 12 and I live in Missouri. I first became interested in reptiles when I was eighteen months old. I had a reptile movie that showed lizards, turtles, and snakes. My favorite part was when the snake ate the mouse. When I was two I had a leopard gecko as a pet for a while.

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Today, I have three snakes. One of them is a Honduran Milk snake and the other two are Red Milk snakes. I caught the two Red Milk snakes and bought the Honduran Milk snake at a reptile show. My neighbors have a retaining wall at their house that the lizards bask on. They let me come over and catch the lizards. I also had to go over and get a common snapping turtle out of their fish pond before it ate all of their fish.

When I grow up I want to become a herpetologist and do a lot of volunteer work for zoos and conservation areas. As soon as I get out of high school I am going to college. I would prefer to work with King snakes or Milk snakes.

Good Luck to Gabe!

Our best wishes go to Gabe. It’s exciting to meet such a passionate young person who has learned much about reptiles on his own! 

A Word from Gabe’s Mom, Jaime:

“He so loved meeting Chuck and seeing the Bull Snake and the Hognose snake. Those have been the top two snakes on his list to see/catch in the wild for a long time. After leaving the deck at the Elk Refuge he was floating on air. He kept telling me about the happy feeling he had in his heart he just couldn’t describe because of the most incredible encounter he’d just had. I think it made his vacation.”