I am always intrigued to hear during a conversation how often there is an “ah ha” moment in a person’s experiences that will alter the course of their life. After many of the shows I perform, many of the adults will share such a story with me that usually centers around a relative, neighbor,  or a volunteer opportunity. Of course, the children also excitedly tell me about their special pet at home, or another time  when he or she was able to touch or hold a snake (usually) or even a turtle, alligator, or iguana.
These “tales” all have one very special component in common, that is, a pathway to the long term memory that mentally brings that person back to that moment in time. This is so awesome! The persons age, whether young or advanced, does not matter while  he or she recalls the sights, smells and sounds of  his or her experience. Many of the stories involve a vacation from decades ago, or a trip to a zoo or aquarium.
Gender does not matter. Slightly more women will tell me about a trip they themselves had or one of their children went on. Many of the trips involved an organized excursion to a facility, but many transpired while meandering about the backyard or in a nearby wooded area. Kids tracking small lizards tops the list. Sometimes either before or after my show the kids all race outside and return with a little green anole, fence lizard or skink to show me.I always accompany them back to it’s capture spot so we can release and observe it together while enjoying our new “friend”  and where it can be with it’s “family”.
Let’s see, snake encounters top the list, be it a time they held a boa or python, seen the Youtube of the python swallowing an alligator, a curious dog  getting its nosebit, a snake sunning itself in the yard, back porch, front steps, side of garage, or my favorite - the hunter stalking a deer, turkey, boar, etc, who looks down to find a viper laying between his feet looking up at his looming giant sized body. That one usually begins, “And there I was…”.
One of my more relished recital involves a preeteen girl, stuck at  grandma’s house for a week or summer, who takes to going for walks in the woods or on the beach, wandering for hours, and then discovers some lizards or turtles and befriends them by bringing offerings of flowers, salad, and crickets. That tale often ends with a sigh and piercing eye contact as I am permitted into a more meaningful encounter that is less action packed.
Of course there is the occasional, “snake prank” usually involving a fraternity at college or an enterprising young man in a classroom, or on a scouting trip, or a washing machine episode. One time a clerk told me a story of when she was a clerk at a mall store, the back door was open for delivery, a snake wandered in. So she got a male clerk to  capture it but it had disappeared in the storage room, only to be found the next day by an unsuspecting manager while opening the night deposit drop box. The snake had slithered through the mail slot and could not escape!
I would encourage you to blog about an experience of yours or of a “second hand” tale that was meaningful, life changing or just plain comical to you.

Reptile Wranglers, Ken Panse and Zack Panse have been busy in 2008. “It has been our best year ever”, Ken said. “We worked 3-5 shows a day from June until August without a day off”, Panse continued. “I have even had to duplicate my critter inventory so that they have ample time to rest, eat, and digest”, Ken added.

Reptile Wrangler has performed over a thousand shows at In-school field trips, birthday parties, college campuses, corporate training seminars, and entertaining at company picnics and functions.

Ken has also made several radio talk show appearances in Atlanta on 104.7 the Fish WFSH. “Once we came to the Fish’s morning show, Kevin and Taylor in the Morning, for Taylor’s “surprise” birthday party live on the air. (Prearranged as a surprise, Kevin had the Reptile Wrangler come to the studio for a “live” presentation.) After the initial, “what’s going on here” attitude by Taylor, Ken brought out a giant tarantula which totally “creeped” Taylor as it meandered onto her show notes. Later, after a commercial break, Ken brought out his 4 foot long alligator named Hummer. Towards the end of the interview, Hummer squirmed loose from Ken’s “nonchalant” grip. Kevin leapt up onto the mixing board console, landing on his knees almost 4 feet above the floor. Taylor screamed, “Kevin!” just like the mother did from the family movie Home Alone. “That was a Kodak moment”, Ken recalls.

“Another time”, Zack recalled, “my dad and I were on station 96.1 Project X, WKLS morning show, the Giant Show with Giant Brian and Shaffee. “My dad brought out our 8 foot long boa constrictor, Rosie, and most of the crew shrank a corner of the studio’s aisle. That was hysterical because they had nowhere to escape. Dad jokingly said, “Someone turn out the lights!” Shaffe was lovin’ on the sweet snake, and Brian was neutral about it, but intern, Slo Mo, was quite animated which helped to get a lot of laughs”.

Another exciting time was when Ken was asked to appear on FOX5’s morning TV show called “Good Day Atlanta”. Ken appeared at the Dancing Goat coffee shop downtown Atlanta with the shows Road Warrior, Mark Hyman. Mark is known as a “man about town” having seen and spoken with multitudes of colorful personalities. Mark’s ambient personality was open to the shops delectable treats and aromatic coffees, but he was somewhat pensive around Ken’s line up of baskets containing unknown inhabitants. The camera man reassured Mark that Ken is a professional handler and was sure there were no “deadly” reptiles involved. Mark then wiped his brow and smiled saying, “As long as you are sure it’s all good”. “Yup” Ken said, “I got this, and we’re totally safe.” They commenced to have an invigorating time together as Ken displayed several reptiles to the viewing audience. Eventually Mark “manned up” and stroked the alligator on its back, saying, “It feels so interesting”. Ken added, “That’s the beauty of nature, she’s always ready with surprises”.

Ken and Zack Panse also have performed several hundred shows together. Our clients get to choose which critters they’d like at their function.

We were greatly blessed by the Georgia Librarians Association inviting us to perform at their annual auditions. We traveled about the state visiting a plethora of libraries encouraging children to “Catch the Reading Bug” using our animals to excite them to read animal and bug books during the summer break.

Beth Linder wrote in her column, The Not for Tourists, about one of our local shows which read, “Enter Ken Panse, a reptile guy who’s made his career learning about some of the most disliked characters indigenous to Georgia, and then introducing them to us in a seemingly safe environment. This guy’s like the next big thing and he does it all–birthdays, school presentations, and don’t forget Uncle Morty’s retirement party. And he’ll schlep his lizards, snakes, spiders, and full menagerie of creepy crawlies and slinky slitherers to you. Even more, he’ll tell you why they’re the coolest things since sliced bread. ‘I am truly grateful to have opportunities to educate and be a positive influence for kids to protect nature and the creatures residing there’, Ken said.”

Ken Panse has authored his first book, an adventure story centered on a gigantic, enormous turtle. The book titled, “Gigantus - a Behemoth of an Adventure” is based on six kids who meet at summer camp, growing their friendships, and getting into all kinds of neat situations. The giant turtle even attempts to get into Ken’s rowboat while fishing with his father. “Writing the book brought back so many memories from childhood that energized me to reconnect with many of my childhood friends”, Ken said.
“I wrote a scene in the book where my Dad eats a carnival hot dog smothered in peppers and onions. He hates peppers and onions. I was with Dad when he read that part of the book. The look on his face made me laugh for days. Heck, I still find it funny.”

Currently, we are working on having our TV show produced for network television or a cable channel. We’ve completed a pilot episode for distribution. The 13 episode series are based on finding and studying reptiles and amphibians that are indigenous to the Southeastern Unites States. “This is a very complicated undertaking finding qualified experts and scheduling so many locations and creatures for video.”

“These are exciting times. I am both blessed and fortunate to have such a cool job and so many friends from our travels,” Ken said while practically vibrating with excitement.