Care home entertains snakes

BEARDED dragons, scorpions, snakes and racoons were among the unusual visitors to a care home in Culcheth.
The tropical creatures were at CLS Holcroft Grange as part of the residents’ animal therapy programme.
The creepy crawlies and creatures were brought in by trained professionals during visits from Zoo Lab UK and Animal Safari. Residents could either just watch or have a go at handling the animals.
Residents were also told about the animals’ lifestyles including what they eat, where they come from and how they behave.
The home uses animal therapy as it has been shown to have a positive impact on residents’ health and wellbeing. Staff encourage visits from animals, including pets, to benefit residents.
Holcroft Grange manager Pauline Shaw said: “We like to provide our residents with as many unusual and interesting activities as we can, and these visits were certainly unusual! The residents’ reactions were overwhelmingly positive.
“Although they were a little apprehensive at first, they soon warmed up, and in the end they were much braver than many of the staff members, wanting to touch as many of the animals as they could.”
Pictured: one of the residents braves handling a snake.