No matter how focused we might be on research, rescue and conservation, education is always our top priority. Last week we had a unique situation where a mother in our community reached out for help after their daughter’s fear of snakes was making it difficult to sleep. While our Wildlife Center is not yet open to the public we made a special exception to invite the family to visit and learn about snakes first hand so hopefully we could alleviate some of the fear by teaching and allowing them to get to know them better. We were able to explain about how important and usually harmless snakes are, showed them how to identify our only local venomous species, the copperhead, with our permitted captive individual, and let the kids see and touch our milksnake. We gifted a youth oriented reptile guide to help in the future and let them know if they ever see a snake we can always help with identification. This is a great example of why we do what we do. If we can help change the minds and hearts of our community, especially our next generation, to appreciate and respect wildlife then we have done our job well.
A note from Audrey-
“Thank you Mr. Scott, Ms. Emily & Mr. Jake for taking the time in educating me, and my kids on the common snakes in our area. We felt a calmness after leaving the center. My daughter, Jocelyn who has been suffering a bit of anxiety with snakes after encountering a few outside, is a bit more relaxed too. I can’t wait for the center to open. Already, have great reviews to give on your wildlife educators! Thank you again!”
