Pythons and rabbits and spiders, oh my!

A Burmese python wraps itself around the shoulders of a student while a tarantula crawls around the hands of a faculty member only feet away. Neither person seems particularly afraid; in fact, they’re both beaming and asking bystanders to take pictures. 

This isn’t the zoo; it’s the Campus Y. 

Helping Paws, a club best known for bringing puppies to the Pit every Wednesday, hosted the “Creepy Creatures” event Wednesday evening in the Queen Anne Lounge of the Campus Y. 

The event allowed students to interact with exotic animals traditionally considered frightening while getting into the spirit of the season.

“We’ve hosted the 'Creepy Creatures' event for years,” said Megan Anderson, a co-chairperson of Helping Paws. “It’s a long tradition that allows people to get up close and personal with different animals as part of a fun Halloween event.” 

The club works in close partnership with the Orange County Animal Shelter and often hosts outreach events to help animals in the Triangle, said Laura Hoerning, the other co-chairperson of Helping Paws. 

“We want to promote animal awareness and provide service to the community,” Hoerning said. “We try to work with local pet sanctuaries, but we’re also trying to get more exotic animals into our repertoire of what we do.”

Students got the opportunity to interact with a variety of animals, from the scaly to the cuddly. Reptiles such as an alligator, a corn snake and a 13-foot-long Burmese python named Julius Squeezer were in attendance, as were two birds, a white rabbit and a tarantula. 

Dan Breeding, a wildlife educator and animal trainer with Wild Animal Encounters, wrangled a python while students looked on. 

Breeding, who prefers to be called “Dan the Animal Man,” has years of experience working with exotic animals. The organization he represented, Wild Animal Encounters, provides sanctuary for displaced exotic animals and non-releasable native animals.

“I’ve worked with reptiles, birds, mammals, amphibians — a little bit of everything, really,” Breeding said. “But my underlying theme, always, is that the animals that I’m exhibiting and sharing are not pets. They’re wild, exotic animals.”

Throughout the event, the animals exhibited appeared comfortable with all the attention they were receiving. The corn snake wrapped itself around the arms of students and the rabbit nearly fell asleep on a student’s chest. 

“These animals are desensitized to so many people,” Breeding said. “As long as they’re safe, they don’t mind. If they’re upset, they’ll display that behavior.”

Dan Johnson, a veterinarian with Avian and Exotic Animal Care, said people are naturally drawn to animals. 

“Animals aren’t judgmental,” Johnson said. “People like to be needed; people like to take care of things. It’s a desire to nurture something, and it’s a desire to please another.”

Junior Omar Haddad came to the event in order to touch a reptile, but ended up enjoying his time with the tarantula more. 

“It was just so soft and calm, though I’m deathly afraid of spiders,” Haddad said. “It just felt very natural. Something about calm animals keeps you calm.”

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