MaxMan Reptile Rescue would like to thank The Citizen for recent coverage and support of the local MosquitoFest and Frontenac Fun Days and for including the reptiles of MaxMan in those articles.

I would like to clarify statements from the article of August 24 about the Frontenac Fun Days regarding Dante.

I was quoted saying that Dante is harmless. As a rescue, it is important to us that we share proper and correct information about our reptiles.

Within the environment of the festivals and outreach programs, which are controlled and supervised interactions, Dante is not inherently dangerous.

Any large snake, over eight feet long, can most definitely cause harm. An animal of Dante's size is large enough to constrict a full-grown adult, but would not be able to consume him or her.

And certainly, any animal has the ability to bite. And it would be lacking on our part if I were not to clarify this point.

However, most reptiles do not bite and attack unprovoked. In Dante's case, he is quite tame from constant handling and interactions are supervised to ensure the safety of both the reptiles and the audience. We make all efforts to avoid any circumstances in which the snake may feel threatened such that it would defend itself.

This is why we note that Dante is essentially harmless during interactions. This is not to say he could never cause injury, it is to say we do everything to prevent that from happening.

We continue to invite the public to meet our animals to learn the truth about these amazing creatures.

If you missed us at the above festivals, you can meet Dante and his friends at the TomatoFest, the Beaver Lake Harvestfest and the Jordan Fall Festival.

Diana Sleiertin

Jordan

Sleiertin operates MaxMan Reptile Rescue in Jordan