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Education is the Key
Our hobby is constantly threatened by government regulation & bans,
shipping company policies, and the general devaluing of these animals by
humans. In my opinion, our only real hope is to change people's minds one
at a time. We know how special these animals are but we need to do the
work necessary to educate others. It is hard work and takes lots of time
but it is very rewarding and we (knowledgeable hobbyists) are the only
people who can do it. Despite deeply
entrenched cultural and personal biases against them, snakes have long
fascinated humans. If you can get someone past their innate (or trained)
fear of snakes, we will have one more person in the community who is
willing to speak up for the rights of snakes and our rights as hobbyists.
Read about North Carolina's efforts to ban boa ownership - Senate Bill #1032 & #1477
Tips for Conducting Educational Outreach Programs (Authored 4/05 in MSWord format)
| Event |
Date |
| Cary Academy
7th Grade Presentation |
December 2008 |
| Cub Scout
Pack Presentation |
October 2008 |
| Reptile & Amphibian Day,
N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences |
March 2008 |
Article in the local newspaper
(News & Observer) - an archived version.
I wish you could see the original article that was published as part
of a section of the paper dedicated to the question, "How should NC
handle exotic animal ownership?" including other interesting photos,
articles, and commentary from both sides. Included a nice photo of
my Salmon Super Jungle boa. |
July 2007 |
Interview on the
local TV station (NBC 17 News)
This is a large file (9.5 Mb) in WMV format but actually small for a
video file of this length. I've tried this link on 4 different
computers. Two correctly launched Windows Media Player and showed
the video. Two gave an error page. If the media player doesn't open
you can just right click on the link and choose "Save Target As",
download the file to your computer, & then just double click to
launch the video directly on your computer. I was surprised by how
much airtime the boas got. The reporter/cameraman visited my house
twice and also came to school so they had plenty of footage. |
June 2007 |
| Article in the local newspaper
(Cary News) - PDF version |
April 2007 |
| Reptile & Amphibian Day,
N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences |
March 2007 |
| Reptile & Amphibian Day,
N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences |
March 2006 |
Presented at the Fall meeting of the North Carolina Herpetological Society -
"Captive Husbandry and Breeding of the Red-Tailed Boa Constrictor" |
November 2005 |
|
Yates Mill Elementary School Presentation |
March 2005 |
| Reptile & Amphibian Day,
N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences |
March 2005 |
|
Yates Mill Elementary School Presentation |
March 2004 |
| Reptile & Amphibian Day,
N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences |
March 2004 |
| Yates Mill Elementary School Presentation |
April 2003 |
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