Taming/Bonding Question

[Bogertophis]

Are you still working there, Awesomethepossum?

[Awesomethepossum]

Sometimes animals can make better "connections" than people.

Not long after I got into snakes (many years back) I moved to the high desert & got involved with a local nature museum that kept snakes & other local wildlife.
Wasn't long after that I was encouraged by the curator to share my enthusiasm, & despite having always hated "public speaking", I loved snakes enough to try it.

I love seeing people of all ages & backgrounds change their minds about them, & as you've noticed, when we "make someone else's day" it often makes our own.

Oh, I lied through my teeth during my interview when they asked me if I was comfortable with public speaking. Lucky for me, holding a mellow snake had a calming factor to it. We were breezing through groups of 300 people after a few weeks. It was incredible.

In college, I specialized in zookeeping/wildlife rehab and education. That experience you had sounds incredible. I wish we had nature centers around my area, because I would definitely ask to volunteer.

While I worked at a wildlife rehab center out in MO for a while, I developed a deeper appreciation of native wildlife. I'm an animal control officer today because of that experience. Although down the line, I would like to get more involved in educational programs again. It's so satisfying.

[Bogertophis]

Oh, I lied through my teeth during my interview when they asked me if I was comfortable with public speaking. Lucky for me, holding a mellow snake had a calming factor to it. We were breezing through groups of 300 people after a few weeks. It was incredible.

In college, I specialized in zookeeping/wildlife rehab and education. That experience you had sounds incredible. I wish we had nature centers around my area, because I would definitely ask to volunteer.

While I worked at a wildlife rehab center out in MO for a while, I developed a deeper appreciation of native wildlife. I'm an animal control officer today because of that experience. Although down the line, I would like to get more involved in educational programs again. It's so satisfying.

It was never my "day job", always a labor of love (volunteer basis), but some of the best things in life are like that. And my nickname "Snake Lady" followed me to
my day job...many locals recognized me, there was no "hiding", lol.

You have a great background & you're still in a position (for contacts) to make a difference, so I hope you can find the time & energy to share your talents too.

[Awesomethepossum]

It was never my "day job", always a labor of love (volunteer basis), but some of the best things in life are like that. And my nickname "Snake Lady" followed me to
my day job...many locals recognized me, there was no "hiding", lol.

You have a great background & you're still in a position (for contacts) to make a difference, so I hope you can find the time & energy to share your talents too.

Day job or not, you still made a difference- and an impression
The world needs more people like that.

And to answer your previous question, I don't work at the museum anymore as the scheduling conflicted with my other job. But I still stop by to say hello to everyone-and Hermes

[Bogertophis]

Day job or not, you still made a difference- and an impression
The world needs more people like that...

I'm so glad that I accidentally moved to the right place & connected with the curator of that museum who encouraged me to step outside my "comfort zone", as I ended updoing programs not only for that museum but for other places too (at the library, a local college biology class, summer camp for kids, etc). That museum also hosted week-long seminars (for several years) for Road Scholar (https://www.roadscholar.org/) or what was then called "Elderhostel", so participants could learn about our local desert & it's wildlife (etc.) & take what they learned & experienced back to share with their families & places of origin. From the feedback they gave me for my class on rattlesnakes & the class on harmless desert reptiles that my friend gave (& I helped with) I can tell you they were very impressed & went home with a whole different view. Even though some initially expressed fear & hesitation about the snakes, only one skipped our classes...you can't win them all. But we can all try, in whatever ways we can, to change the misguided reputation that snakes are burdened with, because we NEED them in our world. If we wait for someone else to do it, it may never get done.



roadscholar.org
Description

Road Scholar is an American not-for-profit organization that provides educational travel tours primarily geared to older adults. The organization is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. From its founding in 1975 until 2010, Road Scholar was known as Elderhostel. Wikipedia