Applications and Hognose Snakes

I had signed up for four classes my first semester at Auburn, and of those four, I had failed one, and done so poorly in another that I withdrew before I ended up with a permanent grade.  Despite my making almost all A's the next semester, my father and I decided that it would be best to take some time off from Auburn.  During this year long period, I would attend our local community college in central Florida and take all my core classes as well as some other basic requirement courses.

This left me free to explore volunteer opportunities around our home.  I first considered the Maitland Bird of Prey Center, but that was ruled out when I discovered that the Central Florida Zoo, only 30 minutes from our home, offered internships.

They had 2 internships available.  A College Internship that would allow one to receive college credit for work done, and a Life Experience Internship that was build around those interested in zoo work as a possible career.  I excitedly looked up how to apply, only to discover that I had missed the submission date for the summer internship, and would have to wait for fall.  That turned out to be a blessing though, as it gave me the time to accumulate all the materials required for the application process and put a lot of focus into the quality of my submission. 

My summer, while not spent interning at the zoo, was busy all the same.  I spent countless hours in Florida canoeing in search of alligators to film, I chased black racers in the yard, and dreamed of getting a snake of my own.  At first I begged my father to let me get a ball python, as he had one and I thought it was adorable.  He instead, nudged me towards hognose snakes, and I found that the more I read, the more I became attached to the critters.

It wasn't until a run by Pet Bazaar (to pick up mice and gerbils for my father's snakes) that I completely fell in love with hognose snakes.  They had a baby normal western hognose in the store, and one of the owners was kind enough to pull the little guy out and let me play with him.  Of course the little hognose struck at me within moments of my trying to pet it, and that was really what sold me.  I just -had- to have one of those adorable, small, yet fierce snakes.  I sped home and begged my father who somehow managed to convince me to wait until the National Breeder's Expo in Daytona.

Month's went by, and I spent more and more time on my computer, researching all kinds of snakes and herps in florida.  Wolves had always been my passion as a child, but I found that now, the books I dragged home from the school library were reptile based, instead of canine in nature.

I didn't forget my love of wolves though.  Shortly before the Central Florida Zoo internship submission deadline, I headed down to Naples for a week to volunteer at Shy Wolf Sanctuary.  I made many friends there (some of them were even human!) and really enjoyed being able to get "down and dirty" with the wolves.

Still running on my high from volunteering down in south Florida, I returned back up to the Sanford area to phone calls and interviews with the Central Florida Zoo. 

Despite my confidence at getting the internship, I still couldn't believe it when I finally did.  And it came with a world I could never have imagined.