Students learn from herpetologist

David Nieves of Bellevue spoke five times in Chadron on Monday about his passion for what some may think are “creepy creatures,” but to him are fascinating. During the morning, he spoke to students from Dawes County’s rural schools in the Chadron State College Student Center and then gave his program twice for Chadron’s elementary students at Chadron High School in the afternoon.

Sponsored by the NeKota Reading Council, Chadron State College and the Chadron Public Schools, Nieves had numerous “repeat customers” during his final presentation Monday night in the Sandoz Center at CSC. That’s because students who had seen him earlier in the day and were enthralled by what they’d learned brought their parents and came again.

Now 43, Nieves has been working with snakes, turtles, lizards and their cousins since he was 8 years old. During his trip to northwest Nebraska, he brought along eight of the 45 specimens he keeps in a special climate-controlled facility in his home.

“I can’t imagine having any other kind of career,” said Nieves. “It requires a lot of travel, long hours and going to some strange locations, but I love it.”

Nieves showed slides of some of the places he had visited. Much of his work has been done in the Caribbean and Central America and ranges from swamps and rain forests to desert areas. He’s also climbed trees to get a closer look, photograph or capture snakes and has gone underwater to study other species.

“I don’t always find what I’m looking for, but sometimes I find interesting creatures that I wasn’t looking for,” he said.

Among those he showed off included George, a turtle that he found in Guadacanal in the Pacific Ocean, a milk snake from Central America, a python from north central Australia, a vine snake that is a native of North Vietnam but was obtained from the Moscow Zoo and Maggie, a huge albino Burmese python.

Nieves said he and Maggie have a special relationship. He saw her hatched and began taking care of her when she weighed only a pound. That was 18 years ago. She’s now about 15 feet long, weighs 150 pounds and hasn’t stopped growing. She eats only once or twice a month, but she’ll consume about 35 pounds of rabbits or chickens at a time.

While he doesn’t show off Maggie at every speaking engagement because he tries to keep her relatively stress-free, Nieves said she’s been seen by nearly a half million people.

Besides speaking about reptiles and amphibians, Nieves gave some writing lessons. He has written two books called “Reptiles Up Close” and “More Reptiles Up Close.” They include photographs of his "friends," descriptions and suggestions on where the readers can learn more about them.

He illustrated how he strives to make his descriptions interesting. For example, instead of merely stating that the Alligator Snapping Turtle hides in water trying to catch fish, he wrote:

“The Alligator Snapping Turtle has an incredible tongue. It is red and thin like a little worm. While holding his mouth wide open under water, this turtle wiggles his tongue to trick fish into thinking they found a lunch. When fish try to catch the “worm,” the turtle has them for lunch. It is kind of like wiggling your tongue and having cookies jump into your mouth.”

Nieves said he is extra careful while working with some of the creatures he studies. He said he was once nipped on the arm by an alligator and never handles poisonous snakes unless another person familiar with them is present. The research facility in his home is always locked when he is not in it.

Besides hearing Nieves, the approximately 90 students from the Dawes County rural schools participated in hands-on science activities created and administered by CSC teacher education students Monday morning.

Nieves also spoke at the Gordon and Rushville elementary schools Tuesday.

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