One last education program

Today was my last education program as Education Coordinator for the Cornell Herpetological Society. I've run around 15 programs since I took over a year ago, and I started and ended with the same program - the Turtle Hatchday Celebration at the Ithaca Children's Garden in Cass Park. I think the kids had fun:

Press coverage

The Ithaca Journal covered Cornell Herpetological Society's latest education program, at the Varna Community Center. Check out the photos here. That's my Crested Gecko!

Herp Club Invades the Sciencenter

This weekend, the Cornell Herpetological Society held another education program, this time at the Ithaca Sciencenter. We tabled some herps for several hours while families moved through. Enough talk, just pictures:

See the Gargoyle Gecko?

Wanna buy a snake?

Eric's young Ackie (Varanus acanthurus)

Corn Snake learns about Gecko feet
Flying Geckos (Ptychozoon kuhli) like me

I demonstrate the principles of Flying Gecko gliding

What an amusing look

Red-footed Tortoise (Geochelone carbonaria)

Ol' Googly Eyes the Trans-Pecos Rat Snake (Bogertophis subocularis)

Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina): Not for touching
Bubbles

Exploring

Beatrice and Sobe
Suzie and Dagoji

Shawn's Gargoyle Gecko (Rhacodactylus auriculatus)

Zoom in on this Spotted Python (Antaresia maculosa) - it has evil eyes.

Chris wonders where her Trans-Pecos Ratsnake went.

Finally, a few of the Sciencenter's own critters:

Toadfish (Opsanus)

Marbled Gecko (Gekko sp., probably monarchus)

Golden Gecko (Gekko ulikovskii)

Herp Lab

Today in Field Biology Lab, I put on quite a presentation to supplement the student's learning of NY herps from specimens. I brought a collection of some wild herps I collected the evening before (since returned unharmed to their original location) as well as captive native and nonnative herps from my friend's collections. Then I put together a slideshow of as many NY herps as I had pictures of. I think they very much enjoyed seeing living herps and colorful pictures rather than colorless dead things in jars (not to say I'm dissing specimens!).

The wild stuff I caught in an hour's searching included:
- 1 Milk Snake
- 1 Brown Snake
- 3 Two-lined Salamanders
- 15 Red-backed Salamanders
- 2 Spotted Salamanders

Quite good for this late in the season!

Brown Snake, Storeria dekayi

Milk Snake, Lampropeltis triangulum


Salamanders

Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta)



Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

Western Hognose (Heterodon nasicus)

Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

African Bullfrog (Pyxie) - Pyxiecephalus adspersus

Crested Geckos (Rhacodactylus ciliatus)


Gargoyle Gecko (Rhacodactylus auriculatus)

Eastern Spiny Softshell (Apalone spinifera)

Frogs

Dead things in jars!

A good time