KRISTIAN LOSTOCCO, wearing his Florida Gator cap and t-shirt, hardly looked away when an American alligator – his favorite animal – was introduced during a Kentucky Reptile Zoo program at the Woodford County Library on June 24. Zookeeper Kat Dale, a graduate of Woodford County High School, is also pictured. (Photo by Bob Vlach)

 

ZOOKEEPER KAT DALE and several of her non-venomous friends, including a boa, participated in a children’s program at the Woodford County Library on June 24. Besides doing programs in libraries and schools, the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in Slade collects venom from its snakes for medical research, which Dale describes as a way to improve the reputation of venomous snakes. (Photo by Bob Vlach)

 

BEFORE INTRODUCING a red-footed tortoise named Bug and other non-venomous friends from the Kentucky Reptile Zoo, Kat Dale told children attending her program at the Woodford County Library, “This is where I grew up … so it’s always super-fun to come back and see how different the library looks from when I was a child.” (Photo by Bob Vlach)

 

By Bob Vlach

Woodford Sun Staff

Other young kids were sometimes looking away, standing up and moving around, but 7-year-old Kristian Lostocco barely took his eyes off six visitors from the Kentucky Reptile Zoo during a Summer Reading program at the Woodford County Library on June 24.

It was only when an American alligator made his appearance that Kristian reacted differently, thrusting both hands above his head in excitement and then turning around to share his exuberance for gators – his favorite animal – with his mom, Kari Lostocco.

Kentucky Reptile zookeeper Kat Dale, a 2007 graduate of Woodford County High School, told Kristian and the other kids that American alligators are native to Florida and the southeast United States after introducing Caramel to them.

“She can hide in the grass along the water’s edge with these nice stripes that can hide her body,” Dale says. “But in the water, she can swim around very quickly … to catch (her) prey,” noting alligators can grow from 8 to 12 feet, but gators as large as 15 feet have been observed in the wild.

Kristian’s love of alligators began when he was 4, his mom says. He has a stuffed “mom alligator and dad alligator” – about the same size as him – on his bed, she adds.

Kristian was wearing his Florida Gators cap and t-shirt at the library’s Kentucky Reptile Zoo program because he’s a fan of the team, but mostly its mascot, says his mom, Kari Lostocco.

Dale, accompanied by “some of my non-venomous friends,” began last week’s library program by introducing Lola, a 29-year-old blue-tongued skink and native of Australia. Lola catches smells and scares away predators with her tongue, and eats bugs, which is a good source of protein, Dale tells the kids.

Next, Dale introduces Condiment, a non-venomous albino milk snake.

To keep predators away, she says, non-venomous snakes mimic venomous snakes. Because snakes help control mice populations, she adds, they are really good for nature and for people who don’t want mice in their house.

Other reptile friends joining Dale during her library program were a red-footed tortoise named Bug, who can’t swim but can see more colors than humans and goes in his shell for protection; and a diamondback terrapin, who lives along the Atlantic coast and has webbed feet for swimming – like a sea turtle.

Dale wrapped up her program by introducing a boa found in the forests of Madagascar that swallows its food whole, after returning the alligator named Caramel to her crate.

When alligators and other reptiles aren’t visiting the library, Lostocco says Kristian learns a lot about his favorite animal and other critters by watching Wild Kratts on PBS. He also gets to travel to Florida with his family to visit his grandparents. “And we go to Gatorland,” he says, smiling.

To celebrate his fifth birthday, Kristian and his family went to the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in Slade. “He loved it,” his mom says. “We got to stand outside the alligator enclosure for quite some time.”

When the Kentucky Reptile Zoo came to the library last week, Kristian was sitting in the “front row” so he could get as close as possible to “the gators and the reptiles,” he says.

“I love that they have these programs (at the library),” says his mom, “because it’s a good break during the summer days. And it’s free, and it’s close to our house. The boys will spend hours here” attending programs and reading.

Asked what it’s like at home raising five sons, she says, “It’s loud,” before adding, “It’s fun and tiring at the same time,” laughing.