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SALT LAKE CITY — Employees at Utah's Hogle Zoo participate in rigorous training and are required to follow exact protocols to keep venomous creatures from contact with the public.
That can be tricky when handlers are also tasked with feeding and caring for the various dangerous species.
The words venomous and poisonous are often incorrectly used interchangeably to describe snake and lizard species. Though a few poisonous snake species do exist throughout the world — storing toxic secretions of the frogs and toads they eat — snakes are venomous. They inject venom into their prey through their hollow fangs.
Venomous snakes and lizards possess varied delivery systems for venom, as some lizards and snakes must "chew" the venom mixed with their saliva into prey, and they possess varied cocktails of venom types that can affect humans in ways ranging from less than a bee sting to death.
Out of the approximately 200 animals housed at Utah's Hogle Zoo small animals building, 15 or so are venomous, according to Tammy Walling, animal care supervisor at the zoo's small animal building. The smallest of those venomous species would be a black widow spider (spiders and scorpions inject venom through their fangs or stingers), and the largest — a very mildly venomous Madagascar Giant Hognose Snake, measuring 6 feet long.
In between, are venomous North American species that include two familiar to Utahns.
In northern Utah, the Great Basin rattlesnake is the only venomous snake species capable of harming humans, as one of five rattlesnake species found in the state, and the Gila monster found in southern Utah is the largest lizard species native to the United States.
Some of the species native to Utah that are exhibited in the small animals building at the zoo will be moved to a new Wild Utah exhibit next spring. Construction of the new exhibits is underway.
Taking care of creatures
Walling grew up on one of South Carolina's barrier islands. Each year, many in her town would volunteer to look after and assist multiple species of sea turtles that would nest and lay eggs on the island's beaches.
Volunteers would help wildlife officials identify and protect nesting sites, and the hatchling turtles would need protection from tourists and sometimes need help finding their way to the waters of the Atlantic. Walling's love of reptiles is rooted in caring for those tiny, helpless turtles.
It's considered an honor to be chosen for venomous handling.
–Tammy Walling
"On the island I grew up on, we had a lights-out program because the turtles would nest and hatch during full moons, so everyone was encouraged to keep their lights off during those times so the hatchlings were less likely to go the wrong way when trying to find the ocean," Walling recalled.
As a small animal care supervisor at Hogle Zoo, Walling is now responsible to help train employees who will handle venomous species and oversee the necessary and varied safety protocols that are essential to housing these animals. Those protocols begin with only select keepers being trained and certified to handle the venomous species.
Before any hands-on training begins, candidates for venomous handling must be senior keepers, measured by tenure, and complete 25 hours of observation of venomous handling by someone already certified. Practical training is then carried out, as the candidate learns to handle each of the venomous species using long snake hooks and gloves.
The giant hognose snake is the only venomous species handled freely, without hooks, as its venom is not harmful to humans.
Since the venomous snakes vary in size, strength, and temperament, the techniques for handling them vary. Some, for example, are handled with two hooks and some only one, said Walling.
Gila monsters and Mexican beaded lizards can be picked up and handled two different ways, and candidates must demonstrate proficiency with each.
By the end of their training, the keepers have demonstrated proficiency in safe handling, weighing, feeding and the transport of venomous snakes and lizards. An oral exam that demonstrates handlers will know what to do when faced with a variety of dangerous scenarios completes the training.
"It's considered an honor to be chosen for venomous handling," Walling said. "If I make a mistake when handling most animals, I could hurt myself. If I make a mistake when venomous handling, I could cause someone else to be injured. It's a serious mindset that one must have."
Behind the scenes, all reptile enclosures at the zoo can be accessed from "kitchens," or rooms that include all the tools necessary for handling snakes and lizards, along with cleaning supplies and a meal prep area. A refrigerator and freezer store any food items for the wide variety of birds, mammals and reptiles near that particular room.
The enclosures of venomous species are outlined with red tape, cards identifying the animal also printed in red, and the locks on the enclosure are also red. Only venomous trained keepers have keys to those locks. It is impossible, at a glance, to not know where venomous animals are located.
Anytime venomous enclosures are opened and closed, the keeper calls, too, for another to double check the state of the locks.
Snakes and other animals periodically enjoy exercise outside of their enclosures, including venomous reptiles. Animals may also need to be contained while their enclosure is cleaned, or to be taken for veterinary care.
Five-gallon buckets with screw-on tops are used to temporarily contain or transport venomous species. The buckets are also red in color and clearly labeled as to their contents. The lid can be screwed on from a safe distance with a snake hook.
Taking every precaution
If a venomous snake must be transported outside the small animal building, for any reason, there are radio protocols that announce the path and destination to others throughout the zoo.
A red and yellow sign is placed outside the kitchen door and another sign, that looks like a stop sign, is placed on the outside door handle. This tells keepers outside the room that venomous handling or exercise is in progress and they should communicate by radio with those inside, rather than enter.
Each of these kitchens is self-contained, even if a snake escaped its enclosure it is very unlikely it could find a way out of the kitchen. Hallways within the building are also secured by doors, so a snake finding its way out of the small animals building is highly unlikely.
Hogle Zoo currently has no venomous animals for which antivenoms wouldn't be available at local hospitals. Antivenoms have a limited shelf life and are very expensive, according to Walling.
Decisions regarding what reptiles to house at the zoo factor the risks and costs associated with storing antivenoms. Privacy laws protecting the health history information of zoo employees have also factored into zoo protocols for providing information to paramedics and doctors should a keeper ever be envenomated.
An alarm button in each kitchen sits near a lock box that contains sealed envelopes for each certified keeper, with their personal health information. The sealed envelope would be transported with the keeper to the hospital.
Incidentally, for those who have been curious, there is no one-way glass at Hogle Zoo. That rattlesnake you're admiring can see you and is aware of, and is used to your presence.
The snake species at Hogle Zoo that some keepers are reluctant to handle isn't venomous, at all, nor is it a very large python or boa. Newman, a male California kingsnake — a species found in southern Utah — didn't have the temperament for the zoo's public ambassador program and now resides in the small animals building.
