Reptile Outreach Ideas??

[Mephibosheth1]

So with all the negative press herps and exotics get and have been getting recently, Ive been thinking of trying to increase my collection to include some more herp/invert species and trying to do some community outreach about the world of reptiles.


The main Idea coming to my mind is going to schools, etc. and educating the kiddies, but can you think of any other possible ways??

Thanks

[liv]

Maybe contact your local government and ask if you can do a presentation at their next meeting thing?

[Mephibosheth1]

Like a "Meet your local herp owner" thingy??

[Rickys_Reptiles]

Funny you say this, I'm in the middle of planning a local event.

I'm going to be hosting a free seminar at my local community center. I'll be bringing an adult and a juvenile BP and showing people how to take care of them properly.

The seminar is going to be covered by local press. So far 1 newspaper has confirmed.

I feel like this is a very important time to start educating my community.

[PivitPaul]

It may not sound as cool as in-person demonstrations, but if you see reptiles getting negative press in your local newspaper, you can write a letter to the editor in response. Letters to the editor help impact public opinion. Every paper has guidelines for how the letter should be formatted in order to be considered (word length, for example), and who to send the letter to.

This web page provides good advice on how to write a letter to the editor. It's talking about letters having to do with poverty, but the general rules apply to any topic.

http://www.results.org/blog/tips_for...tor_published/

And if your city council or state government are considering legislation to restrict reptile ownership, if you get a your letter published, you can print/cut it out and send it to your representative(s). Sending letters like that can even help you get a meeting with your local or state representative where you can lobby them in person.

[sorraia]

In my area there was an "earth fair" (about a month after earth day, to avoid competing with too many other earth day events) I was invited to hold a booth at. I brought some of my snakes, tortoise, and bearded dragon, had some little species information write-ups (if I had more time I would have made pamplets for people to take home), brought a couple books for people to thumb through, and basically just sat there all day talking to people, answering questions, and showing off the snakes. The kids LOVED the booth, I was probably one of the more popular, and those poor snakes had hardly a break all day (but were no worse for wear at the end of the day, and ate like nothing happened two days later on their normally scheduled feeding!). Even people who were afraid or didn't like snakes came over to see them. There were no negative comments directed toward them, just one lady who was like "Why aren't these snakes in the wild?" To which I calmly explained all of them were captive bred and could not be released even if they were native (although my rosy boas are a native species, the two I have are not local morphs). She walked away silently. It was great for the kids, great for the public, and I had a lot of fun too. I took 3 of my ball pythons (including my normal, so people could see what the "wild type" looks like, with a couple morphs to compare to), both rosy boas, and did not allow the bearded dragon or tortoise to be held (I didn't want to have to watch too many things at one time, nor stress them out too much). If you have local events like this, you can ask about holding a booth for outreach and education purposes.

[Pyrate81]

Great topic.

You could check with local schools, a local nature center, or maybe a reptile rescue in your area as well. Perhaps you could set up educational presentations with them.

Liv's idea of hitting the local government is a really good idea I think. Township buildings have auditroiums for public meetings and hearings which could be a good place for presentations.

[Kaorte]

Here in Chicago we have Reptile Fest once a year. Its a huuuuge event dedicated to educating people about reptiles/amphibians.


I would love to do presentations for schools. I think that would be super fun! I have no idea how to go about doing it though

[Don]

For the last several years, I've helped a local biology teacher with teaching genetics, predator/prey and conservation at the local middle school. She coordinates with the other biology classes and I teach a 90 minute class three times a day for two complete days. More than 300 students go through our class. She then surveys the kids and gives me the results of the survey. One of the best things from that survey is that the kids think the most important thing they learn is conservation of native species. At the end, I'm exhausted. I bring in a few adult ball pythons to show different morphs, a corn snake (native species but captive bred), bearded dragon, blue tongue skink and maybe a few other things. The first 60 minutes of the class is lecture the last 30 minutes is hands on. Every child must use hand sanitizer before touching the animals. I do sometimes bring babies, sheds and empty eggs as well.

As we were doing this last year an administrator came into our class and commented to the teacher that this program needs to be done in all the middle schools, not just the one we work with. I have not been contacted and probably could not do it because I would have to take too much time off of my paying day job. But, it was nice to hear. It is also cool to hear from the teacher that each year her new class asks in the first few weeks of school when the snake people (me and my wife) are coming to teach.

I would suggest contacting a biology teacher at the local middle school and working with that person to develop a lesson plan. I've found it very rewarding and it is about the right age to turn around some of those attitudes and fears.

Edit: Forgot one of the most important things - I also take my Eastern Indigo to show them a threatened species and she is the one of the main snakes handled in the class. She makes quite an impact!

[kameo37]

You know, this is a really great idea! I've done a few, very informal, "presentations" to homeschool groups we belong to. I really enjoy watching kiddos (and parents) realize that reptiles have personalities and are something to be admired!
Great thread! Here's hoping we all get the bug to do a little community service on responsible reptile ownership!