Cold-blooded keeper

Kate Gore is Sacramento's queen of reptiles. As a zookeeper in the Sacramento Zoo's Reptile House (3930 W. Land Park Drive), she looks after 80 species of scaly, cold-blooded creatures. Lizards, snakes, turtles, crocodiles, plus salamanders, frogs and tarantulas abound. Gore's tasks include feeding (trivia: Reptiles don't eat every day), cleaning up after them and (trying) to train lizards to do various tricks. Gore speaks about them with adoration. She even calls them cute—although she admits they could kill her.

How does one even become a zookeeper?

Well, I started out as a visitor to the zoo, and then a member, and then I saw that there was a keeper-aide volunteer program, so I signed up for that. It basically entailed following keepers around and doing their tasks. After about four years, I went ahead and applied and got a job as a full-time float keeper—I wasn't assigned to a certain area. And then, one day, they said, “I'd like you to work in reptiles.” Then reptiles became my domain.

So reptiles weren’t the dream?

I was just happy being a zookeeper. I do like reptiles. I'm very passionate about them, but I would have been happy doing anything.

What’s your day-to-day like?

Busy. I come in, make sure everyone's alive and kicking, and then I wander around, feed everything that needs to be fed, because reptiles don't eat every day. Then clean. That's usually my whole morning. By afternoon, it's time to build new exhibits or change out exhibits. Also, there might be an exam for an animal, and if they're going to the hospital, you have to catch that animal.

What’s one of your most fun facts?

Quite a few lizards make noises, which a lot of people wouldn't believe. Geckos make a loud barking sound, and when they're trying to court other geckos, they'll make other noises. It can get pretty noisy in here when all the frogs start going as well as the geckos.

Don’t you find some of your reptiles creepy?

No, actually I don't. I'm pretty cool with all of them. I can't say that for all my co-workers, though. (Laughs.)

What do you think of people who are scared of snakes? Are they irrational?

I think every fear can be irrational. I just think they haven't had the opportunity to really know an animal. My mother is terrified of snakes, but knowing that I work with them, she tries to work with that fear. She's actually touched some snakes, so I'm proud of her. Everyone has fears of things. I have a fear of leeches.

Do you feel attached to any of your residents?

Almost all of them. With some, it's harder because they couldn't care less about me. But each one has its own special little thing. Even these little spotted pond turtles—they're cute. Kinda chubby.

Tell me about some others.

This species of snake was the reason why I really started to like snakes—she's a Brazilian rainbow boa. They're called rainbow boas because they're actually very iridescent. Most snakes after they shed are so iridescent and sparkly, but in her case, she stays that way. They're really great snakes, always pretty with great patterns. … This blue tree monitor is my favorite, and I have no problem saying it. She's bright blue and exceedingly intelligent. She knows if I'm trying to take a photo or video of her, and she'll stop what she's doing and just walk away. She's done it to me many times, especially when I try to train her.

You can train lizards? How does that work?

Basically, I'll have her favorite food—crickets—and I'll go in with a target stick and clicker. I'll hold it out wherever I want her to go, and as soon as she touches the target, I'll click and hand her the crickets. Sometimes I'll have her hang on a branch with her front legs free, just because it's cute. Or stand up on her hind legs. I'll also work on her to see if she can stand on this board here, which is how I weigh her, rather than grab her and cause stress. That's the primary reason for all the training. It's not so we can look cool. Stress can kill these guys. That's why we always say, “Don't touch on the glass.” You have people pounding on the glass, and they're just like, “Oh my goodness, it's loud!” [The reptiles] don't like it at all.

Where are your venomous snakes?

They each have a little red lock over here. We only open these if there are two of us here, and we don't handle our venomous animals unless there's a medical reason to. We use hooks, like ones you've probably seen on nature shows, and we put them in two areas on the animal, lift gently and hope the animal plays along. Everyone that works with reptiles has to be venomous trained. We only have New World venomous stuff—rattlesnakes, a couple South American species. No cobras or anything like that. Nothing that they say can kill you in five-minutes flat. We have an alarm and a red phone that goes directly to fire dispatch—if that thing is ever knocked off the hook, they send somebody like that (snaps). This stuff can be pretty dangerous, but it's not scary-dangerous.