PORTLAND, Maine — Andrew Desjardins is the owner and operator for Mr. Drew and His Animals Too, an exotic rescue and education center in Lewiston. On this visit he brought in a frog, gopher snake and four different species of tortoise.
Mr. Drew said gopher snakes are one of the animals most often killed in the wild, partly because of their own defense mechanisms. He said they look similar to a rattlesnake and will even rattle their tail on the ground to scare away predators. This can lead to people misidentify them as a dangerous venous snake.
Desjardins also talked about the importance of doing research before getting an animal, which he often does when he visits. For example, he brought in four tortoises, all about the same size. He pointed out that many tortoises need different environments to thrive in. Some tortoises stay small in size while others can live nearly 200 years and grow to be more than 250 pounds.