“When my friend was at a reptile program, they hung a snake around his neck,” a second grader told us during one of our school programs recently. “When the snake started to curl around his neck, the owner said he’d take it off when my friend’s face started to turn purple.”
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Becoming Museum Volunteers
A packrat den in a rock wall, stuffed with burro droppings, cactus pieces, and various vegetation, helps us explain to our winter visitors how we became involved volunteering with Denver’s Museum of Natural History.
Snake Encounter
Even though we always look for snakes when we hike, surprising one on the trail today reminded us that we need to be even more vigilant as they now emerge from hibernation.
Burrowing Owl Project
With a decrease in fossorial (burrowing) animals, burrowing owls are finding fewer places to nest. This week we joined a group that has been working with Wild at Heart, inc., (burrowing owl relocation) to create artificial nesting sites for burrowing owls at Cibola National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) a couple hours north of Imperial NWR in Arizona.
Snake Relocation
“Hey! There’s a rattlesnake out here!” Yeah……..sure, I thought. Having just concluded a reptile presentation for some Yuma 4th graders visiting Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, I knew that they were thinking snake thoughts. And one of our snakes I had shown them could easily be mistaken for a rattlesnake.
Traveling with Snakes (part two)
Our snakes are cold blooded, dependent on Chuck’s traveling zookeeper skills for food, water, housing, and, of course, the proper temperature. Traveling with snakes in an RV requires different procedures from housing them in a stationary facility.
Traveling with Snakes (part one)
Our collection of snakes that travels with us has opened opportunities for us at wildlife refuges and state parks that we might otherwise have missed. But few people, whether rangers, visitors, or fellow volunteers, have neutral feelings about these reptiles. Reactions range from fervor to horror.