BUSINESS & AGLIFE
B2 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2022
REPTILES
SAVAGE SERPENTS
Continued from Page B1
Shannon Golden/The Observer
Owner and operator Allyson Smith stands outside the recently opened Savage Serpents at 1307 Adams
Ave., La Grande, on Wednesday, July 13, 2022.
ZIPLY
Continued from Page B1
Ziply Fiber’s work in
Cove is part of its com-
mitment to invest more
than $500 million to build
an advanced, fi ber net-
work to both suburban and
rural communities across
the Northwest that have
been underserved in terms
of internet access, Miller
said.
“We absolutely want to
provide fi ber-optic internet
service to as many people
as we can,” he said.
Ziply, in Union County,
is already providing ser-
vice to La Grande and
Union, and is preparing to
begin off ering service in
Elgin and Imbler. Ziply is
also providing internet ser-
vices in Wallowa, Enter-
prise and Joseph. In every
location it serves, Ziply
off ers internet and phone
services for residential
customers and small busi-
nesses, and the company
is already providing or is
preparing to provide fi ber-
optic internet options.
at Petsense, where she
brought in some of her
reptiles and shared her
insights with shoppers. The
store didn’t sell live mice,
so Smith began breeding
mice and various species of
insects to sell as live feeders
by word of mouth. Her ven-
ture quickly gained popu-
larity among La Grande’s
reptile owners.
After giving birth to her
daughter in January, Smith
decided it was time to turn
her passion into a brick-and-
mortar business. Her father,
Ron Smith, found the Adams
Avenue location on Face-
book Marketplace shortly
before she was set to move
into the old Schwartz Ink
storefront on Jeff erson and
Fir avenues.
Smith began to set up
shop at the beginning of
June, and with the help
of friends and family she
opened the store to the public
on June 18.
“It’s been a dream of hers
for a long time to open a
store like this,” Ron Smith
said.
Now open at 1307 Adams Ave.,
La Grande, Savage Serpents’
hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mon-
day-Saturday. To learn more
about the store’s off erings, visit
the Savage Serpents Facebook
page or call 541-605-0031.
The new store, which
used to house Find Your
Why Travel Agency, now is
home to almost 100 animals,
from corn snakes and ball
pythons to tarantulas and tor-
toises. Smith noted that being
on the main street through
downtown has been good for
business.
“I can’t tell you how much
clientele the movie theater
alone has gotten me,” she
said. “People walk by and
they’re like, wait, what is
that?”
Customers can purchase
animals and supplies from
Savage Serpents. Smith sells
food and enclosure supplies,
as well as heat lamps, fake
foliage and hiding places. For
locals such as David Sams,
having a specialized store in
town is a welcome change.
Sams, who grew up in La
Grande and rescued reptiles
and birds for more than 20
years in Union County, met
Smith when she worked at
Petsense. He recalled having
to commute to Boise or
Walla Walla for frozen feeder
mice with an ice chest.
“Now we can buy them
locally,” he said.
Smith said she plans to
expand her educational pro-
grams, breeding projects and
aquatics selection. She will
continue to off er rescue ser-
vices around the county and
hopes to provide short-terms
and long-term boarding
services for reptiles and
amphibians.
As for the storefront,
Smith wants an interactive
space for customers.
“I’d like to build out a lot
of enclosures and have a lot
more display animals,” she
noted. “So it’s a lot more like
a zoo.”
Smith still recalls her fi rst
sale in the store — a tokay
gecko. For her, it was an
amazing feeling to send the
bright blue, orange-spotted
home with a new owner.
“It’s my passion to share
these animals with people,”
she said, “and to actu-
ally let people know that a
lot of times these are very
rewarding pets.”
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