Market Street students experience Jungle Terry
Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem.Students at Market Street Elementary watch as a male pigeon prepares to follow the female into the crate. Some kids cover their heads in case he decides to fly around instead.
Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem.Market Street Elementary students are excited and scared of the exotic pets that were shown to them Monday. Jungle Terry has been visiting the school for the past eight years.
Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem.First-graders come together to raise Bannana Montana, the python, off of the ground. Each grade level took turns rotating through Jungle Terry's pet presentation Monday.
Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem.Terry Sullivan, of Ashtabula, carries an albino skunk around the school auditorium so that all the students can pet it. His program, Jungle Terry, travels throught Ohio and Pennsylvania performing an estimated 1,000 shows a year.
Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem.Ashtabula's Terry Sullivan grabs the tail of an alligator as it tries to crawl towards the crown of students. He started Jungle Terry more than 20 years ago.
Market Street Elementary students touched chinchillas, skunks, alligators and turtles Monday during a presentation from Jungle Terry.
Terry Sullivan, of Ashtabula, started the program more than 20 years ago. His mother is an animal rescuer which prompted him to pursue a career caring for animals.
Sullivan enjoys educating children on animals and providing them with a safe environment to see and touch exotic pets. Though he classified all the animals he brought with him as pets, he explained that wild animals should not be touched or approached.
First-grader Teddy Anzevino said his grandfather is a hunter. He has seen many snakes that his grandfather caught, but none as big as the python Sullivan brought. Anzevino said it is the largest snake that he has ever touched.
“It was huge,” he said. “They say it feels slimy, but it’s not.”
Sullivan has been presenting Jungle Terry for the past eight years at Market Street. He travels throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania with his pets and said he conducts an estimated 1,000 programs a year.