BY ROSE DOUCETTE
CREEDS — The JB’s Rattles Traveling Reptile Show visited Creeds Elementary School on Thursday, Oct. 6. Some of the stars may be cold-blooded, but they earned a warm welcome in the packed auditorium.
The coolest part?
“The spider crawling on my head,” 8-year-old Harmony Woodhouse said, before listing many other coolest parts.
JB’s Rattles has had a partnership with Creeds Elementary since 2008. Started by John Barnes and his family, the show tours throughout North Carolina and Virginia, bringing reptiles and knowledge to schools, libraries, birthday parties and more.
In Creeds, people met Mortis the Tortoise, a fluorescent scorpion, a rose haired tarantula and a python named JB, among others.
Many people in the crowd were given opportunities to interact closely with the animals and have safe hands-on contact with creatures they’ve likely not encountered before. There were spider high-fives. Young people petted lizards. Others kissed a snake.
Jackson Norkeveck, an 8-year-old Creeds student, really liked “the big snake,” referring to JB, a large python some students smooched as a finale to the show.
And it wasn’t just kids who loved the show. Brittany Whitley, a second-grade teacher at Creeds Elementary, has attended the JB’s Rattles every year. It’s a great time for the students, she said.
“It gives them an up-close experience with reptiles, something they don’t see here in Pungo all the time,” Whitley said.
She appreciates the opportunity for learning – and she brings her own children to the show, too.
Doug Knapp, the principal of Creeds Elementary, saw the event as a big success.
“This was a fantastic first PTA event for the year,” Knapp said. “We were thrilled with the large turnout and all the fun everybody had.”
It might be hard to top the fun had by John Barnes.
He has more than 50 years of experience working with reptiles, and has run the JB’s Rattles show for nearly two decades. There are more than 70 animals in his care, and his enthusiasm for the work was clear.
“It’s really not even a job,” he said, “because if you really love doing it, it’s not really hard work. I love kids, and of course I love reptiles, and it’s really fun to be able to teach.”
Learn more about JB’s Rattles by calling (757) 739-4917 or online at jbsrattles.com.
© 2022 Pungo Publishing Co., LLC