April 16, 2010

Meeting Reptiles Face to Face

People often either love them, fear them, or know very little about reptiles. In today's show we'll take a look, literally, (there will be live cameras in the studio) when Susan's guest, Dave DiNaso of the Traveling World of Reptiles brings to the studio a number of snakes, lizards, an iguana and some surprises. Dave DiNaso started his business in order to teach children and adults why dangerous, venomous and feared animals are necessary to the environment in which they live and to encourage respect. We'll also learn which reptiles should not be pets, what reptile owners must be doing to provide for the welfare of the animals and why released pet pythons are causing havoc in the Florida Everglades.

Episode Segments:

Wild About Pets: Meeting a Python Dave DiNaso talks about how he started his business, where he gets his animals, and why he feels the need to raise awareness of reptile pets. Susan then gets to meet Chiquita the Burmese python, as Mike educates us on how the python is threatening the Everglades, and whether or not they make good pets.
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Wild About Pets: Gators, Iguanas, Turtles and More! Susan gets to meet many more of Dave's friends, including an iguana, an alligator, and a giant snapping turtle, why he educates on on the background of the animals, and why none of them would make ideal pets.
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Look While You Listen! Click here to view the photos Dave & Susan are discussing.

Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Dave DiNaso Dave DiNaso started The Traveling World of Reptiles in 1993 and has entertained and educated at nearly 8000 different events in and around the Chicago-land area including hundreds of Schools, birthday parties, libraries, scout functions, festivals, camps, senior centers and corporate events. The Traveling World of Reptile's mission is to teach the audience the importance of the dangerous, feared and misunderstood animals on the planet. The Traveling World of Reptiles presentation is an entertaining, up-close, live, educational animal show 60 to 75 minutes in length. The show is very funny and audience members are encouraged, not forced to pet many of the animals. We provide a safe environment at all times for the audience as well as the animals. Dave DiNaso has always had a passion for wildlife. Over the years he has cared for hundreds of different species of reptiles, from the pet store variety such as iguanas and pythons to some of the most dangerous including alligators, crocodiles rattlesnakes and cobras. He has also owned, raised and rehabilitated many types of local mammals including racoons, opossums, skunks, squirrels and bats. Dave has successfully bred many reptiles in captivity, including snakes, lizards and turtles. Over the past five years he has researched, filmed and photgraphed animals on five different continents and has traveled to four of the world's rainforests. In East Africa Dave filmed Nile crocodiles on the Orangi river, big game animals on the Serengeti Plains, animals in the Tangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation area and the Ol Duvai Gorge, where Mary and Louis Leaky discovered the bones of the earliest hominids. Dave traveled extensively throughout Australia where he scuba dived the Great Barrier Reef, trekked through both the temperate and tropical rainforests, stood atop the Blue Mountains, hiked along the Mossmans Gorge, visited the deserts of the outback, traveling North where he filmed and photographed the largest reptile on the planet the saltwater crocodile. In Central America he traveled to both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of Costa Rica. Much of that time was spent in the rainforest where 5% of all plant and animal species exist. Most recently, Dave worked with a television crew in Florida filming the abundant wildlife in the Everglades National Park. He helped relocate twenty Nile crocodiles from Tampa to a crocodile farm in Homestead Florida. In addition to the Crocs, he handled some of the worlds most dangerous snakes and lizards including black mambas, king cobras, cottonmouths, several species of rattlesnakes and gila monsters. Future plans include a trip to the Galapagos Islands and an expedition to the Guadalupe Islands to film great white sharks. Click here for the Traveling World of Reptiles Website

Chris Boerema Handling exotic reptiles is nothing new to Chris Boerema. When he was younger his parents opened a pet store where he learned first-hand how to care for dozens of animals. As he grew older he began working with larger more exotic species becoming particularly fascinated with reptiles. Chris's resume includes working with Nile crocodiles, Egyptian cobras, large monitors, alligators, giant snapping turtles and some of the largest constricting snakes on the planet. In 2004 Chris began working for the Traveling World of Reptiles where he assisted in every aspect of the business. Dave was so impressed with Chris's knowledge and expertise it wasn't long before he was working as a full-time employee and performing shows. Chris also enjoys traveling around the world and has accompanied Dave in a Florida Everglades research project. In September of 2007 he joined Dave on a great white shark dive in the Farallon Islands off the Pacific coast. They also photographed Humpback whales, dolphins, elephant seals, fur seals, sea lions, and the leatherback sea turtle. Later that month they captured and photographed snakes along the Russian river, finishing their journey hiking in the Annedale National Park. Only two months later, Chris went on a scuba diving expedition to the Cayman Islands where he photographed sharks, sea snakes, and other marine life. He also spent time at a sea turtle rescue farm where he handled some of the world’s rarest sea turtles. Chris has twice traveled to the Central American rainforest where he photographed American Crocodiles and Spectacled Caimans on the Tarcoles River. Chris has developed his own unique style that brings humor, education, experience, and youthful enthusiasm while still having the Traveling World of Reptiles character that so many have enjoyed over the past 15 years. Traveling World of Reptiles Website