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Reptiles and pizza party at Hunt Library

Reptiles and pizza party at Hunt Library

Jessy Haggard reached out to pet Ralphie the bearded dragon while Meg Sher maintained a prudent distance.

Patrick L. Sullivan

FALLS VILLAGE — Participants in the David M. Hunt Library’s summer reading program had the opportunity to get up close and as personal as is consistent with prudence with assorted reptiles on Thursday, Aug. 22.

Jessica and Zachary Decouteau of The Reptile Nook in Agawam, Massachusetts, brought several examples of reptiles to show the 25 or so youngsters that filled the children’s area.

Ralphie, a bearded dragon, was a big hit.

Clinging to Zachary Decouteau’s dark blue t-shirt, the yellowish-white lizard allowed himself to be petted by everyone who wanted to.

As Zachary and Ralphie made the rounds, Jessica Decouteu explained that while a bearded dragon makes a reasonable pet, “it can’t love us like a dog or cat.”

“It can trust us, because he knows we feed and care for him.”

However amiable a bearded dragon might be with people, the situation changes quickly when another reptile enters the picture.

Jessica Decouteau said a bearded dragon will puff its neck out and bob its head up and down by way of warming up for a fight with a rival reptile.

“We don’t let Ralphie even see other bearded dragons,” she said.

After the reptiles, the children were treated to pizza.

Patrick L. Sullivan
Senior Reporter
Patrick Sullivan has been a reporter for The Lakeville Journal since 2004, covering everything from town meetings to local characters and the outdoors. He grew up in Northern Virginia but spent summers on Mount Riga in Salisbury, giving him a lifelong connection to the Northwest Corner. A graduate of Denison University, Patrick is also the author of Tangled Lines, the newspapers’ popular fly-fishing column—making The Lakeville Journal, as far as anyone knows, the only newspaper in Connecticut with a regular fly-fishing columnist. He once received a fan letter from England, which he considers sufficient evidence that his work has achieved international acclaim.

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