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Children get up close with animals
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Outback Ray allowed the children to pet his milk snake, Coral, during his presentation at the Austintown library on July 19.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Outback Ray placed a chinchilla on a child's head to show how well the animal can balance during his presentation at the Austintown library on July 19.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Outback Ray chose volunteers at the Austintown library on July 14 to help hold Spongebob, his Albino Burmese Python.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Outback Ray held up his Dwarf Caiman alligator, Jabberjaws, at the Austintown library on July 19.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Outback Ray and his tortoise, Mater, made an appearance at the Austintown library on July 19.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Outback Ray brought his animals to the Austintown library on July 19 for families to see types of creatures they may not see otherwise.
Children sat eagerly on the floor waiting for Outback Ray to showcase the different animals he brought. With each animal that came out, Ray would take volunteers from the audience to come up and interact with the animal.
“All the animals I have are captive born, which means they didn’t come from the wild like out in the woods, they were all born in somebody’s home. Ever since they were babies they were handled by kids and people and they’re very friendly,” said Ray.
Outback Ray brought out several animals ranging from rabbits and chinchillas to snakes and alligators. The children had the opportunity to come up and pet or hold some of the animals. The last animal Ray brought out was his Albino Burmese Python named SpongeBob. Several children came up to the front of the room as Ray laid the snake across all of their arms for them to hold.
Outback Ray’s amazing animal show allowed the children to get up close and personal with animals that aren’t normally household pets.