09/14/2022
Goodbye sweet Ziggy.
It is with great sadness that we share the peaceful passing of our beloved Education Ambassador “Ziggy” on September 11th, 2022. TWC’s Veterinarians believe he died of natural causes - garter snakes live a maximum of 10 years in captivity, and while we will never know Ziggy’s exact age, he was likely 8-10 years old, meaning he lived a full life for his species.
Ziggy was stolen from his natural habitat as a young snake by a member of the public, robbed of his right to live a life in the wild. A concerned acquaintance confiscated him from his captor and brought him to TWC with the hope he could one day be released. Unfortunately, he could not go home – his point of origin was unknown (required by law when releasing any wild animal); it was also questionable if he would ever behave like a wild snake after his time spent in captivity, and it was decided that Ziggy would remain at TWC as a member of our Education Team.
Despite his rather tumultuous start in life, Ziggy rose to the challenge of serving as an Education Ambassador for TWC. With the dedicated efforts of many of our staff, he became a steadfast representative for his wild cousins, helping to educate children and adults alike about the snakes living in their communities for over 5 years. At each event he was brought to, phobias transformed into curiosities when people interacted with Ziggy – children that screamed upon his first arrival would dare to have a closer look after being in his presence for just a few minutes. He sometimes even received “fan mail” after classroom visits from captivated students.
Ziggy touched the lives of everyone he met, and undoubtedly had an enormous impact on changing people’s perceptions of snakes. Because of his calm demeanor and captivating story, he has likely helped to save other wild snakes from being taken illegally as pets, and from persecution due to harmful stereotypes. He will be deeply missed by everyone at TWC, and he leaves very big metaphorical shoes for future Animal Ambassadors to fill.