The reptile house

Chapter originally by Teraton on writing dot com

The zoo had plenty of options available, but Yuki had done her job long enough to get a good feel for what tour groups typically liked to see. The group she had today seemed to be mostly college aged guys, with a few similarly aged girls along too. They'd probably find the aquarium lame. And the butterfly sanctuary was absolutely a no-go. They might enjoy the primate exhibit, but if Yuki really wanted to grab their attention, she knew the reptile house would be perfect. So, she led the bleary-eyed dozen of youths in that direction. Little did she know, she'd wildly succeed in grabbing their attention. Although not in the way she intended...

"And in here we keep all our scalier and slimier inhabitants!" Yuki announced, bringing her group into a fairly large building in the middle of the park. The walls were lined with glass panes, each displaying a different reptile or amphibian. Yuki turned to face her following, and was happy to see some of them taking an interest, though they might just be finding some energy now that they were out of the sun.

Yuki let her group spread out a little bit as they walked, continuing slowly down the hall. This both allowed her a break from speaking, and let her gauge the groups reactions to the different animals on display. She'd received all the proper animal handling training, after all; depending on what the group liked, she might be able to bring it out to meet them, or go in to it's enclosure to show it off more. So far, there were three exhibits that were drawing the most attention.

First, there was the Reclusive Tree Boa. It's scales were brilliant green, it was a fairly long sized snake; the problem was that, as its name suggested, it was prone to hiding. It was instinctively prone to seeking out warm, cramped spaces, and hiding itself away. If the kids leaning around on tip toes against the glass were any indication, it was doing so at that moment, no where to be seen.

The second was found in one of the larger enclosures, a Dome-Shelled Tortoise. It was an old one, and its eyes were a little shoddy, but it seemed to please crowds when it was moving. Feeding it was a pain though; the big reptile assumed that anything dangling in front of it was a leaf and, accordingly, took a bite. It made for a pain when feeding it, and Yuki saw more than one new hire get their fingers nipped by the slow animals surprisingly quick bites.

Finally, and the one Yuki had the most reservations about, was the Red-Ringed Jungle Frog. In the wild, the small amphibian was protected from predators by secreting a strong sedative at all times. Any would be frog-eater was stunned and disoriented at best, or knocked right out at worst! Of course, that was due largely to its diet; here in the zoo, its secretions were much much weaker. Still, it wasn't totally danger free, and Yuki knew she'd have to use gloves and carefully wash her hands afterwards if she was to touch it, or else she'd risk a nasty reaction.

Yuki desperately wanted to show these people something, though, and it seemed like most of the group was gathering around one exhibit in particular. So, after quickly clearing it with the Reptile House Handlers, Yuki set aside her hat and binoculars, and entered the enclosure.