Welcome to the jungle

When someone enters her home for the first time, Elizabeth Tripp said they usually have one of two extreme responses: fear or enthusiasm.

"People come to my house and think I own the scariest stuff on earth," said Tripp, a sophomore studying zoology from Carbondale. "It freaks them out."

Though the reaction to her animal inhabitants varies from the overcautious to the overzealous, Tripp is equipped to answer any questions one may have about her creatures.

An animal lover for most of her life, Tripp said she spends much of her free time - at least half an hour every day and five extra hours during the week - cleaning up after, feeding and caring for animals in her home. Along with various kinds of birds and rats, these animals include snakes, bearded dragons, iguanas and other species of reptiles and amphibians.

And none of them scare her because they know she does not pose a threat to them.

"I have never been afraid of them," she said. "I know of no snakes that want to bite me unless they have a real reason to."

No fear

The way Mindy Tripp tells it, there is just one thing about her daughter that has changed since she was a child, growing up on a horse ranch in Kentucky.

"I always say that it's amazing that the girl who cried when I accidentally drowned her worms is the same one who feeds dead rabbits to snakes," Mindy said.

Tripp's family moved to Carbondale when she was 2 years old, which coincided, her mom said, with her fascination with animals.

"She has always shown an interest," Mindy said. "We had chickens, guinea pigs, ducks and many dogs and cats. She didn't play with Barbies. She played with little toy horses instead."

To some extent, Mindy credits her daughter's passion for animals to her upbringing.

"That part came from her dad and me," she said. "She never had any fear. She never had another thought about it."

Mindy said she had to have a curfew once Tripp began to play with grasshoppers and other insects. Everything had to be released at nightfall, she said, but her daughter did not always comply with that rule. One evening, while Tripp was staying with her grandmother, Mindy said she was startled because she had unknowingly uncovered three grasshoppers hidden inside her daughter's toy clock.

But Tripp didn't always want to work with animals; at one time, she wanted to specialize in caring for humans.

"At first, I wanted to be a nurse," she said. "But then I thought that I might like to do the work at a zoo, so I switched. I mean, why not do something that you like to do?"

Also in her collection is a white tree frog, which was purchased from The Fish Net in Carbondale, and later became affectionately known as "Houdini." When the frog was younger, Tripp said he was able to climb up the sides of the aquarium and slip through an air hole on top of the cage.

At night, the little amphibian would squirm and escape in order to spend the bulk of his evening munching on one of the plants in the room.

"But he would always come back," Tripp said.

To the rescue

Though the bulk of her collection has been gathered only last year, most animals were adopted due to improper pet ownership or careless abandonment. Whether it's an iguana found in a tree or a pot-bellied pig suffering from a severe case of mange, Tripp said her heart goes out to animals in need.

"I lived in Carbondale my whole life," she said. "And I have seen students just leave or want to get rid of their animals. It's so sad, and I have a problem. I will take anything and try to find it a good home. I can't say no."

One such case includes Fatty, a red-tailed snake, who was grossly overfed and kept inside a 55-gallon tank, one that was too small for her large size. Once Fatty's owner decided to get rid of her, Tripp said she snatched at the chance to take care of the snake.

But now, Tripp said, Fatty is fat for a different reason - in weeks, she will become a mother.

Mindy recalls one incident where the family banded together to help a baby flying squirrel that was brought home by a cat.

"We fed it kitten's milk and nursed it back to health, and once the weather was good, we set it free," she said.

Like her rottweiler Roscoe, who was saved from being sent to the animal shelter, Tripp said large snakes, especially cobras, are often abused because many want them to be violent and then decide they are too much to handle.

"It's all in the way you treat them," she said. "If you treat them to be aggressive, then they will be."

But luckily for Roscoe, he was saved. Tripp said he is starting to show signs of trust in her. "You can't make people trust you," she said while stroking Roscoe's ears. "They just find out for themselves."

Know your role

This summer, Tripp plans to build an outside cage, so that some of her animals will be able to enjoy the southern Illinois sunshine.

Though caring for her animals costs her "more than she can afford," constantly finding ways to better provide for the animals is how she values good pet ownership.

"The one thing I will admit to is that I do spoil them," she said. "Even snakes like change. And if all else fails, just build yourself a nice-size cage."

Tripp said the best advice for anyone who wants to own a pet but is not sure if the animal is right for the home is to research any animal before purchasing it.

"Make sure you know what you are getting yourself into," Tripp said. "Try to find a breeder who will take the pet back if you decide you don't want it."

Entering the second semester of college means Tripp will have her first zoology class, but she said she is already looking toward her future. Beginning next year, she said she would like to travel to different zoos across the country in hopes of finding a reptile house she would like to be employed at once she finishes her degree at SIUC.

"That way I can have all of these animals and not have to pay so much for them," she said.