How We Can Transform Our Fear of Reptiles into Curiosity
[Music]
hello
first of all i want to thank you all for
having me i’m very excited and humbled
to be part of such a wonderful event
currently i’m in a room surrounded by
jars of preserved reptiles and
amphibians
about 195 000 estimate
this is where i work i manage the
reptile and amphibian collection at the
natural history museum of los angeles
county
now although i do work with dead
reptiles i keep some live ones
at home as pets remember how people take
out their dogs for a walk i sometimes
take out one of my snakes
she’s a mexican black king snake named
ivy and i can’t even take her on my
shoulders when i’m running errands
you could only imagine the looks i get
from people
well one day i decided to go to the mall
with my snake you know like most people
do
and i visited a vintage boutique where
one of my friends worked
she knew i was coming with an unusual
guest once i arrived
her co-worker fled behind the counter
immediately out of fear
now with permission from the store
manager who actually seemed curious
about ivy
i put ivy on one of the storefront
mannequins how do you look like an
accessory
on this black sleek vintage inspired
dress and actually
look quite stunning people that pass by
began to notice
and taking pictures and posting on
social media
i’d be so calm you just stayed on the
mannequin flickering your tongue
getting acquainted with your new
surroundings the sales associate that
originally was
afraid of ivy came out and began to be
curious especially noticing how calm ivy
was in such an out of place situation
i asked her she wanted to pet her and
even better yet she actually
held her in just 30 minutes her whole
view of snakes completely changed
to the point that she actually said ivy
is very beautiful
and all it took was some exposure
the initial reaction from the sales
associate when seeing ivy was no
surprise
reptiles are often depicted as villains
in films many people assume many of them
are venomous
and that they are inherently aggressive
we were taught that these animals are
scary
when people say they usually love
animals we often refer to the
furry and feathered species similar to
insects and spiders
reptiles often feared and misunderstood
even growing up in latin culture as a
young boy when i’d be playing outside
looking at the lizards my aunts would
tell me
which translates to don’t touch that
lizard it’s dangerous
regardless of what i was told by my ants
reptiles caught my interest
i was intrigued by them and it all
started by watching old monster movies
like godzilla
and a giant kaiju turtle named gamera
godzilla became my
icon these characters helped me be
exposed to reptiles
and even sympathize with them my
fascination grew
to the point where i started to read and
learn more about reptiles
this helped me gain a better
appreciation for them
there was no room for fear although
that’s often not the case
for many other people so let me pose a
question
to think about for a moment for those of
you that fear
or dare i say even hate reptiles can you
remember the first time you’re taught to
have a negative connotation or reaction
to these animals
well the first thing that comes to mind
is venom i was walking through an
arboretum a few years back
where i saw a family and the mother was
yelling at her child to stay away
from a lizard running across a path in
fact she was trying to hit it with a
small palm branch
and yelling that the lizard was venomous
similar to my ants they were lumping all
reptiles as being venomous
the fact of the matter is that most
reptiles are non-venomous
there are very few lizard species that
are venomous and within snakes
are over three thousand species of
snakes
out of those three thousand six six
hundred of those are venomous
and although six hundred only two
hundred are actually considered lethal
that accounts for only seven percent of
snakes
we can also start changing how we view
venom
venom is used primarily for that
digestion
and capture of prey snakes for example
lack the claws and crushing teeth other
predators have
without venom some snakes might have a
difficult time capturing and killing
prey
take this king cobra for example
this snake specializes in eating other
snakes
even other venomous snakes having venom
is essential to kill and eat its
specialized prey quickly
to prevent it from being harmed itself
venom has also proven useful in the
medical field
the same toxins that affect the nervous
system can make great painkillers
and those toxins that prevent blood
clotting can help in the treatment of
heart disease
secondly we can start looking at how we
name reptiles and find out
a little bit more what’s behind the name
we ourselves are guilty of giving
descriptive
menacing common names to some reptiles
for example there’s a death adder
the gila monster and this little guy
the thorny devil lizard as you can see
it has these stormy spikes all around
its body
that helps it to protect itself from
predators it also has this
false head that confuses a predator
its scales have these small grooves that
allow water to collect on its body
this water is passively transported to
its mouth
using capillary action an important
adaptation for living in the hot
australian desert
in addition its diet consists primarily
of ants
as you can see the thorny devil lizard
isn’t so demolition after all
thirdly we can associate reptiles with
the imagination they inspire
going back to my childhood hero godzilla
this massive fire-breathing lizard-like
monster
that has captured the fascination of
both kids and adults alike for many
generations
reptiles with a different morphology
continue to spark the interests of
filmmakers and artists alike
particularly larger than life fun
thrilling monster flicks
in 2012 a cgi company came into the
collection to take photographs of
specimens
for using reference for a movie
at first they would tell me what they
were working on other than would be some
kind of creature feature
i just assumed it’d be a low budget b
movie which i still thought would be
pretty cool
as they pulled out their lights and
cameras they pulled me aside in a very
secretive way
asked me if i wanted to know what they
were working on they told me they were
working on two films
godzilla 2014 and pacific rim i was
thrilled when i heard that i was
ecstatic
for pacific rim they specifically were
looking for a common snapping turtle
like this one here they wanted to
photograph its shell
and beak like mouth they were also
interested in photographing its rough
looking
textured skin all these elements were
most likely an inspiration for this
lovely fellow here
this is one of the monsters that
appeared in the film in fact they even
mentioned guillermo del toro himself was
supposed to visit to look at the
specimens himself
seriously if that would have happened i
think i just would have just died
for godzilla 2014 i pulled the sun gazer
lizard
native to the southern grasslands of
africa
its dragon like appearance and spiky
jagged scales
attracted the filmmakers for using skin
reference for godzilla
it was a complete dream for me pulling
out specimens
for use in skin reference for godzilla
the very first monster
that ignited my fascination with
reptiles from the very beginning
i mentioned just a few ways of how we
can change our view of reptiles for the
better
by looking past the tropes and looking
at all their features
both scientifically and in pop culture
so now i challenge you to change your
perspective on reptiles
next time you’re on a hike and see a
snake or even under your backyard and
you see a lizard
look at the room with a new lens take a
photo from a distance respecting their
space
post it on social media and change the
dialogue
from fear to wonder see if you can find
out more information on the lizard or
snake you just saw
there are websites you can upload your
photo and experts can id them for you
don’t let fear inhibit you from learning
more about these fascinating animals
we call reptiles thank you very much for
listening
[Music]
you