Whether you are looking for birthday party entertainment, school, scout, camp, YMCA or library  

programs  look no further. Animal Experiences offers you a thoroughly enjoyable, educational and hands-on experience for kids from 3 to 99. With more than 20 years experience we were doing this long before anyone ever heard of a certain 'croc' hunter from down under.

  What you find with Animal Experiences is a low key, no pressure adventure for children and adults. Dave, referred to as 'Dave the Animal Man' by many students who see him regularly  takes pride in helping people, feel comfortable with the animals and in many cases helping both adults and children conquer lifelong fears of snakes. Because each show includes a wide range of animals there is something to appeal to everyone. The programs typically last an hour with a presentation portion followed by an amazing hands-on session where the audience gets to handle on their own, turtles, snakes, lizards, amphibians, an alligator and some small mammals. With very large groups the show is sometimes more of a petting zoo without the presentation. The ideal group size for maximum educational impact and hands-on freedom is 20 to 30. Bigger groups are handled with some help from willing adults to supervise the handling of the animals. We have handled groups up to several hundred this way. Particularly for children's parties a group of 15 or fewer is ideal. And for all you moms out there, girls love this program, with nearly a third of our parties last year for young ladies.

  Some goals behind Animal Experiences are: educating the audience to appreciate and respect reptiles and small animals without being afraid of them and learning which animals make good pets and which are inappropriate and the reasons why, while having the thrill of not just looking but handling the animals on their own. Nothing works as well as hands-on experience when teaching children. Photos of children (and adults) with ear to ear grins holding their favorite animal are great keepsakes and have on occasion have been used for Christmas cards.

  The normal program or 'show' involves 18 to 20 animals. Because the program is so hands-on there are no poisonous animals and currently no exotic insects or spiders which are inappropriate for the kind of handling we allow. The animals travel well and go to much of Massachusetts, eastern Connecticut and all of Rhode Island. There is a partial list of schools and towns visited in the past year on the last page. The show is also appropriate for company outings, Christmas parties, nursing homes and even campgrounds. Animal Experiences is fully insured.

   Be sure to visit us at.....www.bestanimalexperiencesbydave.com