Betty 
Once again, in less than a year, we have lost one of our elderly snakes. Karma, the Western Terrestrial gartersnake, was a co-worker we depended upon more than any of our other snakes for our reptile programs. Good Natured If a snake could be ever be considered good natured, it was Karma. Her disposition allowed …
The cell phone rang as we climbed a butte behind the volunteer campground on the refuge where we spend summers. “There’s a guy down here flying a drone,” one of the new volunteers said. “What should we do?” Peering through our binoculars toward the row of volunteer RVs, we spotted the man who had skirted …
Several years ago, a man in Denver draped his “pet” 11-foot Burmese python around his neck. Undoubtedly he had engaged in this practice before. But this time, the python tightened, eventually suffocating its owner. Not a Necklace In previous blog articles, we have covered using a snake as a necklace and have advised against it. …
Even though most of our reptile work centers around snakes, other reptiles interest us as well. Recently, we were invited to join a long term population study of freshwater turtles at Wekiva Springs State Park near Orlando, Florida, to help collect turtles for a survey. Warm drizzling rain accompanied us on our drive to the …
Most people cringe when we mention snakes. And that’s all right, we feel, as long as they respect the serpent’s place in nature and leave them alone to go about their business of eating rodents and other nuisance critters. Observing Snakes But occasionally we encounter someone who, even though they may be a bit intimidated …
After years of presenting reptile programs with live snakes in schools throughout Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, Iowa, and Nebraska, we have now experienced our second year of facing roadblocks from the schools. First Occurrence Our first such experience occurred last season when we spent the winter at Desert National Wildlife Refuge, 25 miles north of …
One of the greatest rewards of aging is the opportunity to witness the young generation fulfill their dreams and passions. In August of 1993, Pope John Paul II was coming to visit Denver, I was working for a dentist in the Denver area, and one of our patients was an eighth-grade Boy Scout thoroughly fascinated …