The "Wrestle a Gator" educational show at Reptile Gardens from when Cindy visited. Herper Approved.

Reptile Gardens had a tragic overnight fire in one of their off display buildings that impacted all of their American Alligators from their educational program as well as their African Spur Thigh Tortoises and their Red Foot Tortoises, their other giant tortoises are houses in a different building for winter and are safe. Long time members of the site might remember that Reptile Gardens hosts me for a week several years back for an amazing behind the scenes experience that I was able to share with all of you, including sharing their tortoises and alligators and their show. You can see the photos here.

Our hearts at kingsnake are with the entire team at Reptile Gardens, most of all currator of animals Terry Phillip. You can feel the love he has for the animals he cares for in his statement. We have included it after the bump.

Many people talk about how snakes live a primal existence driven by instinct, but those of us who work with them know they do have the ability to learn routines and people in some sense, but exactly how does that work?

A recent study using corn snakes sheds some light on that!

In this study, corn snakes (Elaphe guttata guttata) successfully learned to navigate mazes and consistently found the correct route to reach shelter or prey. They also avoided areas where they had previously encountered stress, demonstrating their ability to store and recall experiences. This memory is not emotional or social, as seen in mammals, but functional; it allows snakes to adapt their behaviour to avoid threats, locate resources, and navigate their environment efficiently. Such findings challenge outdated assumptions about reptile cognition and highlight their evolutionary intelligence.

Im telling ya, this was a cool article with a link to the study. Take a little time this weekend with your coffee and check it out here!

Matt Jeppson / Shutterstock

Typically I would share REAL news here, but when I was doing a news search, in between the stories of the most infestest lakes or river and the largest and most deadly and scary stories, there was a click bait article that stood out.

10 Cutest Snake Species That Have Us Squeeing

I know a good batch of you are cringing right now but you know what? These pages help our cause. They make our animals seem less scary to those who have fears. They make them more approachable. They bring down the mystery, the danger and the scary level. This is important. This is something we need. While the world outside of us is still going crazy USARK is still fighting laws every day that restricts our pets and it's the little things like that that help us.

It's clickbait, so if you don't want to go, to the site, the full list is after the bump, or you can go here to see it too!