Bio-tjnctstr Farming, Saturday, December 15, 1990
These Kids Like Snakes
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
WILLIAMSBURG (Blair
Co.) — Jackie and Ben Miller,
ages 8 and 7, live on a small farm
in a very old farm house near
Williamsburg.
These two children consider
themselves to be the very lucky
owners of a variety of pets. They
have several horses, an assortment
of cats and dogs, some gerbils, and
a parakeet.
And, if they tire of these ani
mals, they visit their uncle and
aunt, Howard and Chris Allison,
who live in an apartment upstairs
in the farm house.
The Allison children’s aunt has
a myna bird and their uncle has
three snakes, a boa constrictor and
two pythons.
Neither Jackie nor Ben are
afraid of the snakes. In fact, they
enjoy them. Both of them hkc to
hold these reptiles which cause
some people to be very frightened.
The snakes enjoy the warmth of
the children and arc actually very
friendly toward them.
From Uncle Howard, the two
children have learned a lot of
interesting facts about snakes.
Ben and Jackie Miller pet one of the snakes they enjoy learning about from their
uncle, Howard Allison.
Camel,
milk from Yaks
During ancient times, butter was used as a medicine, an oil, a
poultice, a wrinkle eraser and even money.
For instance, they eat only once
a week and only when they are
hungry. You can offer a snake
food at other times and it will do
nothing.
They eat small furry creatures
and Howard feeds his snakes rats
or mice. Since rats and mice are
harmful to farm crops, the Millers
have learned that the snakes can be
very beneficial to farmers. If you
have a pet snake, it is necessary to
buy the rats or mice at a pet store
which raises them for that
purpose.
If the snake is hungry, it will kill
the rodent very quickly and then
eat it. While it is eating, its jaws
are locked in a position so that it
cannot move. Therefore, the snake
could be attacked by its enemies.
For this reason, snakes prefer to
eat in the dark. Howard keeps his
snakes in glass cages on shelves
covered with a drape. Sometimes,
he has to pull the drape in order to
get the snakes to eat.
Snakes have very delicate
digestive systems and, if they do
eat too much, they might become
sick and die.
Like people or cats or dogs,
snakes have individual personal!-
Dairy Trivia
The average cow produces 62 glasses of milk per day,
IVlan has been milking cows since 9,000 B.C,
By the year 2,000, the average farmer will feed 80 people.
The first cheese factory was opened in Rome, New York,
In the desert lands of Arabia, people get their milk from the
People who live in the high mountains of Central Asia get
The first dairy cows arrived in the new world at Jamestown,
ties. Some of them seem to enjoy
being handled while others don’t
like it.
Most of them live to be about 20
or 30 years of age.
The python and boa constrictor
can bite but their bite is not
poisonous.
Instead, this type of snake kills
by wrapping itself around the vic
tim. The snake would have to get
quite large to kill a human.
Jackie and Ben are aware that
there are other types of snakes that
live in the woods around their
country home that are dangerous.
For instance, the copperhead or
rattlesnake does have a poisonous
bite and can kill you.
A garter snake or black snake is
not poisonous and is helpful in
keeping the rodent population
down.
The Miller children also know it
is important to know the differ
ence between the two kinds of
snakes and have been told not to
touch any of them until they are
very certain what kind it is.
Their father, Cy, or their
mother, Darlene, will always be
willing to help them define the
differences.
Ben relaxes with a python in his uncle’s living room
Readers Write
My name is Ben Allgyer. I am 4
years old. I have 3 brothers and 1
sister: David, 11; Me, 9; Aaron, 6;
Annie, 3; and Steven, 1.
My father’s name is Samuel. My
mother’s name is Hannah. My dad
likes to hunt deer. He shot a deer in
his tree stand.
Color This
Leave Some Milk For Santa!
Dad is picking com. My chores
are to feed heifers and calves. I like
to give the calves their milk. We
like to ride horse. I like to play
baseball and ping pong. I like to
read Kid’s Komer. Good by.
Ben Allgyer
Mill Hall