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 …
“Pigmy rattlesnakes are everywhere around here,” people keep telling us as we volunteer on Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge for the winter. But we’d yet to see one, even when we accompanied Dr. Terry Farrell, biology professor at Stetson University, and a couple of his research students searching for pigmies a few weeks ago. New …
Who will care for our natural resources in future years? Because many young people have had little experience in the great outdoors in recent times and some even fear nature, without their appreciation for wildlife and the environment, we risk losing our valuable natural resources. As we have traveled full-time in our RV over the …
When an educational program deteriorates into showmanship and stunts, it no longer serves the purpose of education. On the other hand, a well-done demonstration of a practical, though dangerous, procedure can promote understanding and appreciation of a necessary function. The Stunt A recent Discovery Channel program highlighted a suited-up stuntman attempting to force himself into …
“I have three small children,” a reader wrote us regarding a bullsnake on their land, “and I’m worried about telling them there is a very large snake on the property.” This reader feared her children would be frightened if they knew how large the snake was and how close to their play it explored. Learning …
Stray dogs have no place on a wildlife refuge. So when I encountered an emaciated pit bull in the parking lot of the Florida wildlife refuge we currently are working with, I asked other visitors if it was their dog, guessing that it probably wasn’t. One visitor, however, had fed the dog a piece of …