Nine-year-old Thea Cannatella, left, of Woodstock is all smiles as she and her sisters Clio, nine, and Lucy, 12, get a hug from Hercules, a 30-pound boa constrictor, last Tuesday at McLaughlin Garden and Homestead in Paris. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

PARIS — Locals of all ages flocked to McLaughlin Garden and Homestead last Tuesday to spend the evening with Lewiston’s Mr. Drew and His Animals Too.

Cold-blooded exotics may not be what one expects to find at a heritage lilac sanctuary but Mr. Drew’s mission for protecting all animals and ecosystems overlaps with McLaughlin’s purpose to preserve Maine’s natural environment and share it with the public.

“We work hard to keep our events low or no cost for the community,” said Karla Horecky, executive director of McLaughlin Garden. “We make an effort to provide a variety of experiences. It’s a great way for people to come out and try something new.”

“The mission of the McLaughlin Garden is to cultivate a beautiful and healthy environment where discovery, creativity and connections are nurtured,” said McLaughlin Garden’s Board of Trustees’ President Leslie Guenther. “Mr. Drew’s love for the natural world and the animals in it made him the perfect fit for an evening presentation at the McLaughlin Garden.”

Kids and adults of all ages came McLaughlin Garden and Homestead last Tuesday to listen to and learn from Mr. Drew and his Animals Too. Courtesy McLaughlin Garden and Homestead

Along with his menagerie of rescues and exotics – arachnids, insects, lizards, tortoises, turtles and snakes – a visit from Drew Desjardins comes with lessons about responsible care and ownership of all animals, as well as respecting the ecosystems they belong to.

“We have over 400 animals at my education center. We take in the animals the humane society does not,” Mr. Drew told the crowd. “If you’ve been to an animal shelter, they have cats, kittens, puppies, dogs, bunnies – anything cute and fluffy. I don’t do cute fluffy animals.

“I do creeping, crawling, scary animals. I do animals people think are bad. I do animals people don’t understand, and I do animals that many of you might be afraid of. I travel all over New England, and even around the world, explaining why there is no such thing as a bad animal.”

As he talks, Mr. Drew combines different messages for his audience: proper knowledge and care of animals acquired as pets, respect for our local ecosystems and environment, and how important it is to overcome fear of the unknown.

“You might not like an animal for some reason,” he said, an acknowledgement that many of his animals have bad reputations and are misunderstood. “But that does not mean it’s a bad animal. You may be scared of something. I’ll tell you, that’s okay. Being scared can help you keep safe.

“You may be scared of one thing in life and it doesn’t matter what it is. Just try and learn about it. The more you learn about something, the less scared you’re going to be.

“That’s what I do – I try to help people be less scared of my animals.”

Mr. Drew started small, talking about bugs before bringing out a handful of cockroaches that crawled across his hands, on his face and even inside his mouth.

The lesson? While most people fear cockroaches and work to get rid of them, only a handful of 4,500 species pose any danger to people. In Madagascar, cockroaches are responsible for cleaning the forest floors of rotting vegetation, helping to naturally plant seeds through their droppings, and providing a food source to animals like lemurs.

A parent purchased a pixie-sized pixie frog as a pet for their son, only to learn it would mature into a six-pound predator. The frog was rehomed to the nonprofit rescue Mr. Drew and his Animals Too. Shown at McLaughlin Garden and Homestead last Tuesday, the amphibian currently weighs 2.5 pounds. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

He then shared the story of how a giant frog came to live at his giant education center: a parent promised their child a frog if he did well in school and when he brought home good grades she went to a pet store brought home a frog. She purchased a pixie frog, which had a small-sounding name and was about the size of a half-dollar coin.

“The boy was really excited about his frog,” Mr. Drew explained. “And he googled pixie frog, to learn all he could about it. And he found out that a pixie frog grows to be six pounds.”

And not only would that pixie frog eventually grow to be six pounds. It would need a diet of rats or whatever else it could fit in its mouth – even a cat. Mr. Drew agreed to take the pixie frog off of the family’s hands, as they clearly had bitten off more than they could chew. Now, three years later it tags along with his other animals, and weighs two-and-a-half-pounds. By the time the pixie frog finishes growing it will be bigger than a human head.

Mr. Drew brought out some clearly compromised rescue animals in his care. First, an illegally-owned and deformed tortoise that had been abandoned in a dark, cold basement with no food or water.

Then came two lizards, blue-tongued skinks. One was healthy. Mr. Drew took in the second from someone who had purchased it from a big box pet store. It was much smaller than its buddy with a concaved body, likely from malnourishment and poor living environment.

The lesson? It is critical for families to thoroughly research prospective pets to make sure the animal fits in with their household. Here Mr. Drew directed his wisdom over the heads of the kids to their parents and grandparents.

Drew Desjardins with one of his exotic animals, a tegu, at McLaughlin Garden and Homestead on July 2. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

“I am a free resource,” he said. “Many of  you have children who will ask, ‘mom and dad, can we get a …’ fill in the blank. Email me and I will help you. I will answer all your questions. Because if you go into a big box pet store? They’re only going to tell you what’s good about that animal, they won’t tell you what’s bad. But I will be honest, I will tell you the good and bad and help you find the best-suited pet for your family and I will help you later on if you need it.”

Next was a black and white tegu, native to South America but an invasive species that has so far been documented in the United States in Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.

“They’re an apex predator. They will go after anything, including you,” Mr. Drew explained. “They are very intelligent. This is the only lizard in the world that can warm himself up. They don’t know they can do it yet. It’s call mesothermic. Unlike in Florida where its lizards will fall out of the trees when they get cold.

“So they’re spreading and will move their way as far north as they are able to survive. They can adapt to the environment and they’re omnivore, which means they will eat whatever they want.”

The lesson? When exotic animals kept as pets are released or escape, they will seriously harm any ecosystem they do not naturally belong in, especially when there are no predators to keep them in check. Invasive species will eat the food of native animals, prey on the native animals and their populations will grow unchecked and at faster rates than native animals.

Also brought out to entertain and educate the crowd was a snapping turtle that was rescued from ice and could not be released after being rehabbed, as he had domesticated himself into a pet; a tarantula; a scorpion; a carpet python; and Hercules, a boa constrictor that may just be the most well-petted snake in Maine.

“We were thrilled that so many people were able to join Mr. Drew and His Animals Too for a wonderful learning and hands-on experience,” said Guenther. “Adults and children of all ages filled the McLaughlin Barn to learn, discover, and experience, and all enjoyed Mr. Drew’s energy, engaging presentation style, and his wealth of knowledge.”