After spending winter months hiking through the desert, we’ve learned to watch for critters that lurk unseen, ready to strike or sting unwary visitors. With this in mind, even though unnecessary, I found myself constantly on guard while tramping through brush and tall grasses at the National Elk Refuge over the summer.
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Naturalist Work on the deck of the National Elk Refuge
Volunteering as naturalists on the deck of the visitor center at the National Elk Refuge with our skulls and snakes, we meet people from all over the country and the world. Some encounters are educational, some are merely social, and some are comical.
Snake Myths
Milk snakes suck milk from cows.
-All snakes are carnivorous (meat eaters). No cow would allow it, and snakes lack the ability to suck.
Roscoe, Rescue Dog
Although our passion is reptiles, we love all animals, especially dogs. Dogs offer certain benefits that cold-blooded creatures cannot. And we recently discovered another of those advantages.
Antler Retrieval
Antlers are collected on the National Elk Refuge by staff and a troop of boy scouts in the spring and sold at auction in May to benefit the scouts and the Refuge. Last year, however, one old bull died in a pond on the Refuge, its huge rack protruding from the water, barely out of reach. The urge to recover it overwhelmed me!
Serpent Surprise
“Snake!” Sue McDonald’s 7-year-old daughter, Sapphire, still sat in the car in their garage when she spotted the snake and cried out.
Antler Auction
Despite snow, cold, wind, and occasional glimpses of sun, the annual Antler Auction in Jackson, Wyoming, proceeded as usual today.