San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/26/2013 -- Bay Area snake specialist Douglas S. Hall is on a mission to help children and parents understand the beauty of snakes, and to teach them to handle them properly.

“Many children want a snake as a pet, and I think that’s a great thing. However, others are afraid of snakes and their first impulse is to kill them. That’s not a good thing to do unless a poisonous snake poses a  real and present safety hazard. My goal is to help young people appreciate and care for snakes,” Hall said.

Hall teaches children about snakes in his presentations at schools, events and even birthday parties in the Northern California area. He has a web site called www.HandsOnSnakes.com and has just released a new ebook on Amazon called, Snakes: 25 Tips for Beginning Snake Handlers.

He noted that urban sprawl has changed how young people think about snakes. “When I was a child, snakes were far more common than they are now. We know which ones were dangerous, and which ones weren’t, and so we learned at a young age to handle them and appreciate them.”

He said that has changed today. Young people rarely see a snake outside of a zoo, and they have no idea about how to properly handle a snake.

“Snakes have a unique beauty,:” Hall said, “and that often goes unappreciated. They have interesting behaviors too, and it is good for children to observe them in nature and to keep them as pets.”

He also pointed out that many snakes are endangered, so they should not be killed.

Jennifer Carr, Novato Children's Center, one of the many places where Hall has educated and entertained children with his own collection of fourteen snakes said, "What a wonderful experience! The children in the classroom were amazed! They were beautiful creatures and the children enjoyed learning about how to handle them."

Contact: Doug Hall
http://www.handsonsnakes.com
Email: tangasnake@yahoo.com
Phone: 707-338-4884