I have loved reptiles and snakes for as long as I can remember. Growing up, around 90 per cent of the time I would find myself hunting for frogs, salamanders and snakes. I can’t quite explain why I find reptiles and snakes so interesting and majestic, but I just do.

When I was young I use to go hunt frogs either in my home town of Young, Saskatchewan or at my grandparents in Creighton, Saskatchewan and would always come home with a pail full of frogs. Frogs are just so neat to me and the fact that they practically start out as a fish, amazes me.

Hunting for frogs can seem easy at first, but when you’re chasing after them in thick mud or in pokey trees, it can definitely get difficult. The feeling of finally catching a frog was one of the best achievements of my childhood. Not only do I enjoy hunting them, but I also loved keeping them as pets and eventually releasing them back into the wild when they grew bigger or before winter had arrived.

There are many different types of frogs in the world and my favourite one has to be the red eyed tree frog because of its vibrant colours and its cherry red eyes.

Another reptile I love and use to hunt growing up would be a salamander. Salamanders are just so cool looking and just like frogs, they pretty much start off as fish, which is amazing. Tipping over logs and rabbit cages in my backyard in Young looking for salamanders was always super fun and a great way to pass the time.

The type of salamanders I would catch were the tiger salamanders, which were so unique in the fact that they were a dark green with black stripes or spots. I used to do the same thing as I would with frogs in keeping them as pets and then eventually releasing them before they go into hibernation.

The last and final reptile/snake that I would catch growing up was the garter snake. I’m so fascinated by snakes, it’s not even funny. Growing up I used to love going into fields searching for garter snakes and when finally catching one, it was so thrilling. The great thing about garter snakes was that they didn’t have any teeth so if you happened to come across one that wasn’t too happy with your appearance, you didn’t have to worry about being poisoned or being cut.

There are so many different types of snakes in the world both big and small and I’d have to say my favourite one has to be the ball python, which I actually have back at my house in Lethbridge. Ball pythons are so unique in that they get to be a decent size, but not too big that you can’t handle them. They are super easy to take care of as well as they only eat once a week.

Those are my three favourite reptiles/snakes that I either use to grow up catching/hunting or that I currently have at home. They are just so majestic to talk about that it’s hard to not write a novel. The love and passion of reptiles will never leave me and I will pass on my childhood experiences to my kids someday.