Over the summer, Derry made the decision to hire a security guard, Grant Nicely, who will be here at all times of the day to keep the students safe.  Interestingly though, Nicely has a long list of prior accomplishments and a plethora of interesting hobbies.  One of which is his interest in snakes.  

“Many years ago, my friend had snakes,” said Nicely.  “He took me down and he introduced me to the snakes and I got interested in a couple of them and ended up having 72.’

Nicely’s passion for snakes took him on an exciting journey that began with building his own collection.   This then expanded into other opportunities for Nicely.  He started doing reptile and snake shows and demonstrations.  

“I used to do demonstrations for Boy Scouts, schools, birthday parties, and  special things like that.”

Nicely then began to become a well-known figure in the reptile community and even began breeding and selling his own snakes. Within his 8 years of breeding, Nicely established a reputation for producing non-biters for other enthusiasts looking to add to their own collections. 

“You learn genetics and how to get different colors,” said Nicely.  “It’s fun. It’s fascinating.” 

Today Nicely maintains a modest collection of only 7 snakes.  He recognizes that although keeping snakes requires some dedication, it is a manageable task and he enjoys taking care of and spending time with his snakes.

“They’re not really that difficult to take care of,” said Nicely. “You dedicate an evening or two and you can feed them and clean them.”  

While Nicely used to perpetually add to his collection by adding and replacing snakes, his collection finally started to fizzle out due to his decision to downsize for the well-being of the snakes.  

“It’s like an addiction,” explained Nicely. “I’m done buying snakes though because we don’t do the shows anymore.  My snakes all got old and died.”

“I don’t need to have snakes because if anything happens to me, who’s going to take care of the snakes?”