Scott Prior will bring his live snake party to Barnes & Noble for Library Appreciation Days.
By: Jessica Emili
Samuel L. Jackson could learn a thing or two from self-proclaimed "snake guy" Scott Prior.
If Mr. Prior somehow encountered the slithery creatures in an unlikely mid-flight setting, he’d probably revel in the reptile invasion and throw a snake party. In fact, Mr. Prior has done just that (minus the airplane) for a while. For the last six years he has conducted "live snake parties" at libraries and bookstores. He’ll be making his next presentation at Barnes & Noble in West Windsor as part of New Jersey Library Appreciation Days, Sept. 8 and 9. Other events include storytimes with entertainer Miss Amy and children’s librarians from area libraries.
Mr. Prior’s "parties" are actually demonstrations, designed to ease kids’ apprehensions about the much-maligned creatures.
"My main thing is to alleviate fears that people have about snakes," he says. "I wanted to create a positive experience, so that people can see that snakes don’t deserve all the fear that people react to them with."
To do that, Mr. Prior says he brings about 10 snakes of all different sizes and colors with him and then gives a general discussion on "what it’s like to be a snake." He explains how snakes’ colors help them survive in the wild, what they eat and where they live. He also brings along some samples of shed snakeskin, snake eggs and a rattle from a rattlesnake. If there are snake enthusiasts in the audience, he’ll also talk about where to purchase snakes and offer some pointers for taking care of the pets.
Mr. Prior’s own interest in snakes began during his childhood. "Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had snakes and I’ve read about them," he says. "There’s tons of great literature on learning to identify snakes and how to keep them healthy and safe."
He finally convinced his mother to let him get a snake of his own when he was about 14 years old. "But I never had a cool snake guy come to any of my schools!" he laments.
After studying biology in college, with plans to go into zoology, Mr. Prior changed career paths entirely. He now works as a freelance artist, but runs snake parties on the side. He refers to himself as an "amateur herpetologist," since most of his snake education is the result of practical experience and learning.
"It’s not rocket science," he says. "A lot of the training is hands-on stuff. Once you get into that kind of world, you start to hang out with other people who are into snakes and you learn from them. I used to hang out with a friend who had a pet store in the suburbs of Philly and I used to help him breed snakes. Then I started to do programs on my own."
And you could definitely say that Mr. Prior brings his work home with him he owns about 75 snakes and keeps them in his house. "I’ve adapted one room into ‘the snake room,’" he says. "But they’re all in cages, it’s not like they’re crawling all over the place," he adds, laughing.
While many of Mr. Prior’s friends are fond of snakes, he hopes to assuage his other, snake-fearing friends.
"A lot of my friends are afraid of snakes and they’re in their 30s," he says. "Some just had bad experiences when they were, like, 12 years old at summer camp. There’s no reason that people should be carrying around this fear for 20 years."
Barnes & Noble’s New Jersey Library Appreciation Days will take place Sept 8-9. Customers who present a voucher will have approximately 20 percent of their purchase price donated to the New Jersey State Library, to benefit 2007 summer reading programs. Request vouchers at all Barnes & Noble stores or New Jersey libraries, as well as on the Web: www.njstatelib.org or www.njla.org. Special events begin Sept. 8, with Miss Amy’s Musical Birthday Party celebration, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and the Live Snake Party at 7 p.m., and Sept. 9, Librarian Storytime Festival, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.