COMMUNITY
Deb’s Dragons Brings ‘Misunderstood’ Creatures to ‘Wild’ Parties By Jimmy Magahern Deb Miller puts a tarantula on the they take their turns with the giant head of a young girl, and every kid snake wrapped across their shoulders, in the visiting class from Anthem’s snapping giddy selfies with the wild Caurus Academy immediately pulls photo-bombing reptile. out their smartphone. This is a field trip to be Facebooked, All through the packed HB Wellness Instagrammed and tweeted. And smoothie shop on 90th Street and Miller, looking herself like a fearless, East Bell Road in North ultra-fit superhero in blueScottsdale, the kids streaked black hair and pink from Caurus erupt with short-shorts, is in all her excitement as Miller, glory. reaching into her bank “I love doing the show of portable reptile cages, for kids,” said Miller, owner pulls out one exotic of the 13-year-old Deb’s creature after another. Red Dragons, a home business and white corn snakes. Deb Miller introduces that provides such critters California king snake. A a young audience for school events, corporate blue-tongued Australian member to a tarantula. team-building exercises and skink. Her trademark bearded dragon. parties, for kids and adults. “You know, An African ball python. they don’t have any fear yet. Their fear By the time Miller gets to the isn’t cemented, like it becomes for Columbian boa constrictor, all 40 adults. So it’s all very interactive.” charter school kids are on their feet, To be accurate, a couple of kids do brandishing their iPhones, iPad retreat to the back of the room several Minis and even a couple of camera- times, especially when Miller gets to equipped Nintendo DSis. Two by two, her “Fear Factor” part of the program:
passing around a handful of two-inchlong Madagascar hissing cockroaches. But Miller is quick to relieve their fears. “They cannot hurt you,” she reassured a couple of boys recoiling from the insects. “They’re sticky—they can climb on glass. But they won’t bite you.” Daughter of a zoologist and an adventurer with a fierce wild side (among her favorite activities on her website she lists scuba diving with hammerhead sharks, eating termites, chasing feral rodents and skinny dipping off uninhabited islands with her boyfriend, the aptly named Daniel Boone), Miller said her main mission is to get people past irrational fears of what she calls her “misunderstood creatures,” which she keeps as pets in her North Scottsdale home. “We stereotype these animals into categories that make them seem fearful,” she said. “The movies encourage that, because they play on our fears. So a lot of my show is about overcoming what are actually the myths and stereotypes we have about these creatures—and in a broader sense—about each other. That’s just a subtle message that I like to sneak in.”
Miller loves passing around Madagascar hissing cockroaches, explaining that they can’t hurt anyone despite the noise.
It’s hard to tell whether the class from Caurus, a brainy bunch who begin prepping for the International Baccalaureate program in elementary school, are catching all of Miller’s subtle lessons today. Most are too busy shrieking with delight and mugging for each other’s smartphone cameras with various snakes on their arms. That’s OK with the Valley’s reigning lizard queen, who, though fully insured and stealthily precautious, is a master at making kids feel freed, for at least an hour, from their overprotected world. “I try to put some education in with the entertainment,” Miller said, noting that her carry-along creatures represent a “mini world tour” of every continent. “But really, it’s all about fun.”
Air Conditioning • Heating • Electrical • Plumbing Call us for a FREE 2nd opinion!
Are areas of your home too HOT or too COLD?
Sometimes it’s not necessary to replace your system! We guarantee to beat any written quote!
72° 80°
Introductory 1 hour
76°
Let Diamondback Air help you find the perfect temperature balance for your home
MASSAGE or FACIAL
pair We Re es, k All Ma els! d All Mo
(602) 977-0800 office Bonded, Insured: ROC#177520 (480) 496-4475 East Valley John@Diamondbackair.com Free In-Home Estimates www.Diamondbackair.com
50 OFF $1500 TRADE-IN
TUNE UP SPECIALS
$
Get up to
ANY REPAIR
$ 90 for your old equipment plus rebates! With this ad. Not valid with
With this ad. Not valid with any other offer. Expires June 30, 2014.
With this ad. Not valid with any other offer. Expires June 30, 2014.
Financing Available OAC Page 10
MASSAGE | FACIALS | WAXING
Open 7 days • Extended Hours • Walk Ins Welcome
69
any other offer. Expires June 30, 2014.
49
$
95*
A $79.95 Value!
Not Valid for Gift Cards
Introductory 1 hour
HOT STONE MASSAGE
69
$
95*
A $99.95 Value!
Not Valid for Gift Cards
*Introductory offers valid for first time visit only. Not valid for gift cards. Sessions include time for consultation and dressing.Valid at the Scottsdale locations only. Offers may not be combined. Rates and services may vary by location. Independently Owned & Operated.©2014 Hand & Stone Franchise Corp. Franchises Available.
North Scottsdale 480-575-1000
31309 N. Scottsdale Rd.
Scottsdale Rd. & Lone Mountain in the AJ’s Fine Foods Shopping Center
Nearby News • For News Around Our Neighborhood
Scottsdale 480-991-5100 15233 N. 87th St.
Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd. & Loop 101 In the Walmart Shopping Center