Snake handler Krista Guarino with snake; photo is a screen grab from Barcroft TV video report
Krista Guarino of Michigan is definitely not your typical 9-year-old.
Not only is she NOT afraid of snakes, Krista eats, sleeps and plays with snakes, has become an expert snake handler, and would rather be with snakes than her friends.
“Snake was one of her first-ever words,” Jamie Guarina, a snake specialist who is Krista’s father, told U.K. Mail Online. “I knew when she was very little that they were going to be her passion. From an early age she wasn’t like a normal kid. She wasn’t afraid of snakes at all. She just wants to go up and grab them and pet them and play with them.”
Krista first held a snake at age 2 but was first introduced to snakes at 3 months old, as the Guarinos live with 30 reptiles, including anacondas and a 12-foot python.
“It’s the same as having a kitten around, it becomes normal to them and they will never fear or think it was any different,” Jamie said on Facebook about the infant’s exposure to snakes.
Not everyone in the family thinks Krista’s hobby is a safe one, however. Namely grandma. Barcroft TV has the whole story:
As you can tell, Laura Guarino, Krista’s grandmother, is not happy about this at all.
“It bothers me a lot,” she told Barcroft TV. “I’m afraid she’s going to get bit, hurt, you know, strangled. It really upsets me a lot.”
Even Krista’s mother, Ashli, calls her daughter and husband “crazy,” though she has gotten used to having snakes around the house.
Jamie is trying to educate people that snakes really aren’t as bad as some people make them out to be, and defends his choice to allow her daughter to interact with snakes.
“I’ve had some negative comments from people saying that snakes are evil and I shouldn’t let my daughter be around them because she could be killed,” Jamie told Mail Online.
“These people are really ignorant about snakes. My daughter is never in any danger. This is what Krista loves and I don’t want to deprive her of that.”
Krista intends to own a reptile center when she grows up. She wants to teach people about reptiles.
“Some people are afraid of them and will kill them,” Krista told Barcroft TV. “I don’t want anyone to kill snakes because they’re cool and interesting.”
So says the one-of-a-kind, 9-year-old expert snake handler.
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