Searching for Snakes

Most people don’t go looking for snakes, particularly venomous snakes.  Most people especially don’t want to encounter one.  On the other hand, we seek them out – but not always successfully. Recently, our friend Bryon Shipley, long-time rattlesnake researcher and Denver Zookeeper, visited us at Imperial National Wildlife Refuge for his annual trek to the …

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Snakes as Stress Relievers

“I can’t stand to even look at a snake!” a visitor to the Plains Conservation Center in Aurora, Colorado, once assured me.  But within 15 minutes, after I had convinced her to actually hold the kingsnake I carried, she changed her mind as the snake glided within her fingers.  “It feels so soothing!” she said.  …

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