Summersville Lake Project Junior Ranger Program "Snakes of West Virginia"

LRH
Published Aug. 7, 2017
Summersville Lake Project Junior Ranger Program "Snakes of West Virginia"

Summersville Lake Project wrapped up its 2017 Summer Junior Ranger Program with Roy Moose’s popular interpretive program, “Snakes of West Virginia". A retired school teacher, Mr. Moose, volunteers for the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center by delivering free live snake education programs in rural and urban communities throughout the eastern United States.

Summersville Lake Project wrapped up its 2017 Summer Junior Ranger Program with Roy Moose’s popular interpretive program, “Snakes of West Virginia". A retired school teacher, Mr. Moose, volunteers for the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center by delivering free live snake education programs in rural and urban communities throughout the eastern United States.

Approximately 80 children and adults actively enjoyed learning about both poisonous and non-poisonous snakes of West Virginia. The audience learned about the benefits of snakes and their benign nature, with the scary-looking hognose snake passively playing dead when being handled! Mr. Moose focused largely on West Virginia’s two poisonous snakes, the timber rattler and the copperhead, stressing their identifying marks, habitats, and personality traits.

Mr. Moose shares his passion and commitment to educating the public, especially children, about snakes. “My hope is that people will simply observe and walk away from snakes and not feel like they need to kill them”, says Mr. Moose. The Cranberry Mountain Nature Center wants the public to be aware that it is against the law to confine a snake for more than 2 weeks. They rotate their exhibition snakes into the wild approximately every 2 weeks and welcome the public to bring captured snakes to the Nature Center.

Honored to host Mr. Moose and his snake program, the Summersville Lake Project's Park Ranger staff look forward to another successful Junior Ranger Program next summer.