More children are getting bitten by rattlesnakes in Northern California in recent years, according to Gabe Kerschner of Conservation Ambassadors, who blames the increase on a lack of education.
“There used to be one or two children getting bitten by rattlesnakes every year, now it’s eight to 10,” said Kerschner, who doesn’t think people should fear snakes, but they need to respect them. “I think more kids are getting bit because of all of the television programs showing people scooping up snakes rather than just leaving them alone.”
And the time to leave a rattlesnake alone, he said, is when you hear the sound it was named for.
“It doesn’t rattle its tail to say ‘I’m going to bite you,’” he said. “It rattles its tail to say, ‘I’m afraid of you.’”
The snake Kerschner showed to the few dozen children gathered at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds in Ukiah Saturday morning during the 80th annual Redwood Region Logging Conference is a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake named “Precious,” who came to his group after her tail was severed by a weed whacker.
“So the man cutting weeds scooped her up and drove her to Walmart, because that is the largest retailer in the country,” said Kerschner, who definitely uses humor as a way to reach his audiences. “No, she was driven to our veterinarian who was able to save her life.”
Kerschner said the goal of his program is to “give kids a different way of looking at the wildlife we share this planet with,” and his approach certainly seems to be working when it comes to respect, and even admiration, for snakes.
“How is Precious?” asked one girl after Kerschner tucked his animals safely away, to which he joked, “Actually, I don’t know where she is, so let me know if you see her!”
The 10-year-old named Sway said she liked Precious because “I love snakes,” describing the reptiles as needing more love and respect because “most people don’t like them.”
Another animal Kerschner said is not given enough respect is the turkey vulture, a bird he said performs a very important function by eating animals’ carcasses.
“This is a smart bird, this is a social bird, and he is an important part of the balance of nature and we should respect him,” he said of “Wizard,” a turkey vulture he said had been with his group for 30 years after being shot in the wing.
A popular misconception about turkey vultures, he said, is that the birds know when another animal is dying and begin circling above them, waiting to eat.
“But Wizard hunts by smell; he only knows when something is dead,” he said. “He is not a doctor; he can’t tell when something is about to die.”
Another animal Kershner showed the group and let a girl feed was a reindeer named “Rudy,” telling the group that reindeer are actually domesticated caribou.
Conservation Ambassadors has locations in Colfax and Paso Robles, and can be reached at www.conservationamassadors.org.
