http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/ en-us Copyright 2011 Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:49:25 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Our dear Katrina- the sweetest and most bendable girl on the team :) Katrina is a fun person to have around while on the road, or anytime for that matter. She just graduated from Guelph University (yep, another one!) in Wildlife Biology. Thanks to her herpatology field course at Queens U in Kingston, she is also our resident amphibian expert! She's great to have along on any trail, because she'll be sure to spot little critters sliding through the grass that anyone else would just breeze right past. One very cool thing about Kat is that she is actually a gymnastics coach! This has got to be a first for any of the Reptiles at Risk crew members- and boy does she rock those backflips. She's entertained some lingering crowds with her stunts here and there, but we've yet to start a show with a triple flip one-handed backspring with turtle in hand ;) Personally, I think it could be fun, but what do I know. Katrina is always ready with a laugh, and keeps as all going with her sunny disposition. Of all her favourite things, the one we hear about most is her little puppy back home. Any time we pass other dogs you can be sure Katrina will be the first to 'awww' and tell us the latest adorable thing her pup has learned to do. Very cute! She is great at posing for ridiculous photos, and is a mean competitor in mini golf. Another of her favourite things I'd have to say is post-boxes. When she's not reading her 'Water for Elephants' novel, she's probably writing yet another postcard to be sent from our next small town stop. One of Katrina's arch-nemesis' are, believe it or not, chipmunks. They have even been known to stalk Katrina in the night, crawling up through the wheel-well in our old trailer and onto her legs in her bed in the middle of the night. Never mind snakes- it's the rodents you have to watch out for! Hard to believe our summer is coming so soon to a close, it's been fun times Katherine ;) http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/miss_kat.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/miss_kat.php Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:49:25 -0500 Katrina here. Over the past week the team was lucky enough to visit 2 more provincial parks, and stay 3 nights at each! The first was Long Point, and we had a beautiful site right near the beach. This park is probably the sandiest one we've been to. We had two shows at the park on a rainy Sunday and we were lucky enough to have the rain stop in time for both our shows- what are the chances of that? Monday we had a nice relaxing day off and drove to the town of Long Point where Amanda and I had a lovely mini-putt tournament. We both shot over par, but it was nice to change up our routine a little. (Amanda here- Katrina is just being modest, she actually kicked my butt). While playing mini-putt Adam explored the Arcade. On our way back to the park we stopped at a trail explaining some of the future plans for the Longpoint Causeway, to build eco passages for the animals. We walked the 2km trail and saw a great blue heron, a hawk and a couple garter snakes. I decided to pick up a garter, which of course meant the garter had the right to musk on me! It was really smelly!- note to self: that is why we don't pick up wild garters! Turkey Point was our next stop: after shows in Port Dover and Port Rowan. Again we lucked out with a huge campsite- it was a pull-through with two picnic tables and quite a distance between other campsites. Our first night there we had a show in front of the campers at Turkey Point.... little did we know our boss Jeff and Robin were in the crowd filming us! We had a nice visit with Jeff and Robin and had a lovely evening dinner of chili and card-playing! Side note: we had a park warden come by and say we were being a little too loud with our music (AND this was in fact our forth encounter with park wardens at different parks after driving a short distance without seatbelts, having fires after 11pm and parking in a no parking area). This is proof that park wardens do a great job! :) Which takes us to Wednesday... on Wednesday we had 3 shows at Simcoe Library, Waterford Library and Backus Conservation Area. Thursday we had a day off at Turkey Point where Adam and I dropped Amanda off at her great Aunt and Uncles' (Carole and Stuart). She had a reat time catching up and seeing old family photos and meeting the neighbour: Gregor Beck. Gregor Beck is involved in the reptile world and has helped with several publications- Amanda picked up a wonderful herp. conservation guide off him (which is one I actually purchased in Pinery P.P.). Adam and I then went to the town of Simcoe to explore and get our haircut. Which brings us to today! Friday!! We are currently stationned outside the Port Dover Library doing our second last display as part of a sidewalk sale on the Main street. Tonight we will be in Selkirk- our last provincial park of the trip. We are almost done our Ontario adventures and it only feels like yesterday that we departed for the Georgian Bay Tour.... http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/long_point_and_turkey_point.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/long_point_and_turkey_point.php Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:46:34 -0500 Big Red the van pays a visit to the 401, and carries us all the way to Woodstock. We wouldn't call a parking lot outside the slots the most ideal of places to sleep, but we did make the best of our stay. The Agricultural grounds in Woodstock also double as a racetrack and a slots casino, and so after Ray and Lorna the organizers (such lovely people!) helped us get settled in we stopped to enjoy some harness racing. With $2 bets you can't go wrong, and although only Katrina won back a bit of her cashola we had a fun time. The display went well at the market, and we had a steady stream of people visiting us all morning We all couldn't wait to wander off to our next stop for the day.... Cow.a.polooza. Moo! We doubled up a display with our show, and enjoyed a milking contest beside us. Our milk snake, Angus, especially had a super time ;) You can bet we didn't miss that photo-op either! The Beagles, a Beatles tribute band that couldn't be older than 15 was a tough act to follow, but we presented to a nice audience, and hung around afterwards for a hilarious busking show. Enough of the city though, onwards to Longpoint as we drift further East along Erie... http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/this_little_snakey_went_to_mar.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/this_little_snakey_went_to_mar.php Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:16:49 -0500 Greetings from Amanda! Another beautiful Ontario Park under our belts- Rondeau was a perfect place to cool our heels after the Petrolium fields of the south west. We enjoyed the scenic drive from Sarnia with more and more wind turbines peppering the landscape along the shores of Lake Erie, and were sure to stop for some sunset photo at the roadside. We spent the next few days zig-zagging around the region, starting our day at the Ridgetown Library. This group was a real treat, and probably the more polite and well-behaved group of kids we've ever seen. Blenheim drew some large crowds for a small town, and we ended our day at Wheatly Provincial Park. We were jealous of some of the parks staff there, having spotted a Fox snake in their maintenance shed that very day! Shame they couldn't have just had him wait there for us, but oh well ;) It was rough going Wednesday morning, with a 5:30am wakeup call to mosey over to the Chatham Farmers Market. It was quite a rustic little market, and we enjoyed the fun vendors, like Mr. Pickle, as well as the Railway Newfie blaring his country-music cover album all day. We met some very nice people there, however I found the number of people gasping and detouring wide circles around our tent a little disheartening. We've all got our fears, but what a shame that snakes draw such extreme reactions. Of course that's why we're out here on the road, dispelling as many myths and misconceptions as we can as we go along. On to the Chatham Library we were given a lovely thank-you card and even a Tim Hortons gift card... such a thoughful gesture from the library staff! The show at Rondeau that night was a big hit, with all 3 of us presenting like a well-oiled machine ;) Katrina got to reconnect with her old TA from her Queens U herpatology course, and we got to take a peek at their baby Spiny Softshell turtle (rescued from a listing on Kijiji of all places!). It was great having the next day off after such a jam-packed week. Katrina and I took one of the parks canoes for a paddle around the marsh, and were thrilled at spotting an adult Map Turtle, as well as (maybe?) a Least Bittern bird. haha we hope! Regardless we felt very lucky to be there in the middle of it all. Ciao for now! http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/rondeau_rambles.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/rondeau_rambles.php Tue, 16 Aug 2011 11:27:55 -0500 Hello again, Adam here! While at the Pinery, we watched a movie called Waterline. This movie followed the course of the Great Lakes Watershed, with a focus on all the various pollutants and other factors affecting marine life in our waters. One of the places featured was the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, just south of Sarnia. The reserve is in an area known as Chemical Valley, and was being featured for the birth rate of more than 60% females in the community. The hypothesis is that this is due to many estogen-like compounds being released into the water from cities upstream (Chicago, for instance). It was fitting that the very next day we headed to the same reserve, and even met a few of the people featured in the documentary. There was a good turnout from the community, and everyone had a good time handling the snakes. The reserve itself was quite nice, but just across from the baseball diamond and park loomed an oil refinery puffing smoke into the air. Their community center is surrounded on many sides by oil refineries and other factories, and all of us felt the weight in our lungs as if we had been smoking cigarettes for our few days in the area. While there, we were talking to people who had fed their pet Ball Pythons (an intermediate pet choice) with mice and rats raised on tap water and grains from the area. The Ball Pythons had died after consuming the rodents. Whether this was a direct effect or mere coincidence was never proven, but it is very clear that the area is heavily polluted. felt guilty driving through the area as I knew that my driving contributed to the problems that these people and this area are facing. With our reliance on fossil fuels, every cent spent at the pumps generates the profit that allows the industry to thrive, and our health and environment to suffer. As we left Aamjiwnaang, the refineries slowly faded from the agricultural landscape and were replaced by windmills. Compared to the oil refineries, wind turbines seemed to be the most beautiful thing ever. If only it were that simple... Wind Turbines are an extremely controversial issue in the areas where they appear. People complain that they are unsightly, that they are noisy, and that they are dangerous. A 3-year-old at the Ridgetown library answered the question, 'why are 7 of 8 Ontario turtles are at risk?', was because of windmills! It was pretty hilarious, but there's no doubt someone in her family complains about them a lot. In terms of conservation, windmills provide a very real threat to migratory birds. Obviously this issue is complex. Whether it is an oil refinery, or a 'green' wind turbine, many communities across Canada are being affected by our society's reliance on energy. Conservation is about more than just saving individual animals. We can all do our part to save Ontario reptiles by decreasing our energy usage, which will in turn help the environment that these reptiles need to survive. http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/en_route_to_rondeau.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/en_route_to_rondeau.php Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:29:32 -0500 So far you’ve only been introduced to one member of our trio, so I think this is a great opportunity to tell you all the dirty details about our one and only Amanda Ammon. Amanda has blonde hair and blue eyes and loves long walks on the beach... :) Although this is all true let's get to the better stuff: Amanda is the oldest member of our team (not including our travel trailer). She graduated four years ago from McMaster University majoring in Anthropology, which is funny considering both Adam and I are University of Guelph students taking Biology. She came into this job though because of her love of animals and teaching. And now, after being on the road, she can probably tell you anything you ask of Ontario's reptiles. We are lucky to have Amanda as part of our team because she has just come back from some worldly travels and has a lot of wonderful stories to share. In her travels she has been to New Zealand as well as South Korea where she worked as an ESL teacher. Amanda loves to read! She will often be seen reading up on world news, or sipping her tea reading a good book. She is one of the most eco-friendly people I know, trying to keep her carbon footprint as small as possible: recycling and reusing whenever possible. Fun Fact: Amanda so far this trip is that her shoulders are double jointed and she can actually circle her arms from the front of her to the back holding her hands together. Which I find quite fascinating being a gymnast myself and not even coming close to that! Amanda has been a really great person to get to know this trip. She is very kind hearted and will come up with the best jokes to brighten my day! -Katrina http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/all_about_amanda_ammon.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/all_about_amanda_ammon.php Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:24:22 -0500 We left the lovely town of Oro Medonte Friday evening to start our trek back on the road. This time we have been set out to the Southern parts of Ontario. Friday night we arrived at Pinery Provincial Park and set down our camper to prepare for a 3 night stay. We even have a few new members of the team- a hognose and fox snake (who we haven't had since our Georgian Bay adventures) and a lovely little spotted turtle named Dotty. Early Saturday morning our crew went to Grand Bend for the day to set up a display at Aquafest. We had lots of visitors come over to see our lovely animals and even got a whole baseball team to come join the fun and hold some of our snakes. We could not have asked for better weather! We were lucky enough to have the night off which we spent exploring the Pinery. Adam and I rented bikes and set out to find a hognose snake... and with our luck we didn't even see a garter :( We did have a lot of fun biking and we even found a hairy-tailed mole on our hike! We all went to the beach which was BEAUTIFUL! There was a boardwalk to get to the beach since it is over some dunes which are being preserved due to the amount of endangered plant species found there. Amanda also thoroughly enjoyed the Oak Savanna on the Cedar trail, and although did see an Easter Towhee bird, but sadly no hognoses either. That night Adam and Amanda set out to watch a documentary about water at the amphitheater and I had a quiet night of reading in the camper. Sunday was a long day for the team. We started out going to Huron Shores Marina where we set out our second display. One family stayed the whole time our display was there! The two boys even fished for minnows to feed the turtles. We love to get kids as involved as possible and it is a great learning experience for them when they get to be our helpers :) This display was followed by our first show of the trip at Rock Glen Conservation Area. While waiting for the show to start Amanda and I were lucky enough to see a peregrine falcon landing in the tree above our heads. Adam set out on a hike to explore the park and saw a Virginia opossum. We have been lucky with all sitings but reptiles it seems, which is why we do what we do. They are hard to find because they are not doing well in these areas. We were lucky enough to have had this show set up inside because it POURED! After the show we headed back to our campsite where we had a show. Over 200 people showed up to see us at the park and again we were lucky with the weather and the rain held out during the whole show. We had some kids start off this show for us with a song about getting eaten by a Boa, which we informed the audience that we have no boas and that they don't eat people, but it was very entertaining. Which brings us to today... Today we have visited 2 libraries for shows: the forest library and the sarnia library. We are so lucky to have all these libraries hosting us and we have had wonderful turn-outs! We have one more show today before heading to our next campsite at Rondeau Provincial Park. Until next time... :) -Katrina http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/on_the_road_again_2.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/on_the_road_again_2.php Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:23:44 -0500 What better way to end a 3 week roadtrip than a rodeo? The roadteam was due to wrap up our tour in Barry's Bay on Friday, but we added on a weekend at the Tweed Stampede and Rodeo. Jeff came up from Orillia and switched out with Katrina so she could enjoy her weekend off at the cottage. Jeff, Adam and I spent a few days of cowboy fun in Tweed. It was a beautiful summer weekend and we had a lot of families visit our display in the kids area. Some of the other displays included an elderly farmer offering sheep shearing and dog herding presentations, a chainsaw carver, and lots of bouncy castles. The real fun was all about the rodeo of course! With country fans all around us, Jeff even bought his very own leather cowboy hat and fit right in. We had some laughs watching some serious cowboys and cowgirls roping calves, running barrel races, and bullriding. Pretty wild stuff these guys do, that's for sure. The only bull we rode was a mechanical one in the kids play area, definately worth the pulled muscles. ;) From there we all enjoyed our time off, and are now gearing up to head back out on the road, this time to Southern Ontario. Summer is flyin by, and we are loving it! Cheers, Amanda http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/cowboys_and_snakes.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/08/cowboys_and_snakes.php Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:19:56 -0500 When last we left off, we were sitting at the Petawawa Library. After that, we drove to Bonnechere Provincial Park. Here the staff were glad to meet us, and the show was a rousing success. Some of the children were especially keen to see the show, and even managed to figure out where we are camping! We have spent the last two nights entertaining families at our campsite. I guess one could say that the Reptiles at Risk crew never stops in our mission of Reptile Education. During the day we had to stop our campsite entertaining so we could go visit some libraries for our scheduled shows. In Golden Lake, we visited our first First Nations community of the year. The Golden Lake Algonquins were excited to have us, even though we were a couple minutes late. From there we moved on to Eganville, a nice little town where the librarians gave us ice cream! Since it was our last full day on the road, we had a pizza party while in Eganville. We called Jeff to ask about days off, but we were in for a surprise. The road trip was being extended by a weekend! Luckily, we were able to accomodate everyone's wishes for days off. Katrina is really excited to have the long weekend off so she can experience the events at her cottage on Lake Couchiching. She is still heading home tonight, and relieved, since she has been counting the days down until she can go home. Adam and Amanda are sticking around for an extra couple days for shows in Tweed, at the Tweed Stampede. Then Adam is going to his cottage on Lake Kashwakamak and Amanda is going to visit some friends in Picton. We are all looking forward to our time off, but have started counting down the days until we leave again... Friday Morning. -Adam http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/when_last_we_left_off.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/when_last_we_left_off.php Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:59:07 -0500 Some wonderful new stories since last update: Herbfest was absolutely lovely! Upon arrival we found the owner of the property (the Herb Garden), and Herbfest director, Gerry who had set us up with a large tent to keep our reptile friends cool. Lucky for us it wasn't as humid as the few days before. We wrangled up crowds of over 100 at each of our two shows, despite some unhappy campers who jumped at the sight of snakes around our necks as advertised through the crowds. But it wasn't the shows that we remember most about that day... After completing our shows we adopted two kids from the tent across from us whose parents owned the Cheshire Cat Pub. The kids, Deacon and Arlow, were very interested in the snakes and helped us to tidy up and put them all to bed. We then sent them on a mission to catch as many grasshoppers as possible! They caught a lot, which we fed to our turtles :) In thanks we gave them each a snakeskin, and in thanks to us for babysitting their parents gave us a bottle of wine... so nice! But that was just a start to the night and two lovely volunteers: Rob and Kara invited us over to use their pool and canoe if we wanted to. We accepted the invite and got a lovely lift to his house in his ATV and trailer. Upon arrival to their house saw a disc golf course set up in their backyard. Rob was a frisbee salesman (www.ultimatediscgolfstore.ca) and I bought a lovely frisbee for a gift. We spent a couple hours at their place hanging out. It was so nice to get away from our trailer for a while! When we got back to our campsite their was a box of avocados sitting at our trailer door Mmmmm. Since then we have been at Renfrew Public Library and Pembroke Library. We have also been to 2 more provincial parks: Driftwood and Algonquin! We also got our Wood Turtle- Ash to join our tour on Monday! He has been lovely to have around, and it is nice to learn about Ontario's most endangered Turtle. It was really nice to have been hosted by Algonquin. It was a long drive in- which broke our radio :(- but well worth the drive. The park was beautiful and we had a wonderful audience! We also got lucky enough to hike along some trails yesterday and this morning before we leaving Algonquin. We just finished a show at the Petawawa Library and have some time before our next one to update the outside world on our many adventures. This is Katrina, signing out for now :) http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/some_wonderful_new_stories_sin.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/some_wonderful_new_stories_sin.php Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:30:59 -0500 Another great week gone by- we've been lucky to meet some awesome people and visit lots of beautiful spots, including the village of Arden, Sharbot Lake Provincial Park, Silver Lake Provincial Park and Almonte Herbfest... It's all been great, but lets break it up with some dirt on US- the crazy ones that our snakes and turtles are so good to put up with ;) Today we'll share some fun facts about Mr. Adam: Adam: Snake-wrangler extraordinaire. A 3rd-year U. of Guelph student hailing from St. Catharines, Ontario. On his 2nd season as a Scales Nature Park employee. Some of Adam's favourite things to do include Herping (looking for reptiles and amphibians), having dance-parties, watching wrestling, hanging out in the library, and sharing a drink on a patio. Favourite Foods: Most anything. Adam isn't picky for the most part, and he has a real affinity for mustard. He's a vegetarian like myself (Amanda)... we're working on Katrina next ;) Strangely enough, Adam does not enjoy chocolate! Weird. We've found Adam to be really great at getting audiences pumped up for our shows, he is a big bundle of energy! If you want a cheesy joke, he's your go-to guy. He loves to swim, and if there's a pond or lake around you can guarantee he'll be in it if we've got more than 15 minutes to spare. He's a big country music fan, and actually downloaded the 'Top 500' country songs of all time. We only listen to it in shifts, for fear of overdosing on twang. Awesome things he's done: Adam has seen most of Ontario's 8 turtles in the wild (as he is the self-proclaimed Blanding's Whisperer), and the only one he's missing is his favourte, the WOOD TURTLE. We're on our way to wood turtle country, the Upper-Ottawa valley and Algonquin Park area, so fingers crossed a shy little wood turtle will show himself. He's a real natural with reptiles, as he grew up helping his grandparents at the Seaway Serpentarium in Welland. Adam is full of fun facts, and if there is something he's not sure of he'll be on Google as soon as he can to find the truth. Most of all, he loves roadtrips. Yay Adam! This is Amanda, signing off... see you next time! http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/another_great_week_gone_by.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/another_great_week_gone_by.php Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:32:45 -0500 The last three days have been jam-packed with adventure and we were booked solid having three shows each of these days! Starting off Tuesday we had a nice voyage over to Westport where we had a show in Westport United Church. It was a cute little town, with lots of little shops. The stories that some of the guests told were very interesting, with a lot of people telling us tales of snapping turtles laying eggs near their homes! Our next stop of the day was at Perth Public Library (where this blog is being written right now). A lot of kids were in attendance and the library staff who joined made the kids some "admit one" tickets to our show. These kids loved the show and they had so many great questions and stories for us. The last stop of the day was Kitley Library, it was in a nice location and Adam even found a garter snake on his way in! We busted some myths about the garter snake and by the end the guests were no longer calling them grass snakes. On Wednesday we got to visit three more libraries. Lanark was our first stop in which the librarian (Wanda) was the sweetest lady and had done a lot of her own advertising prior to the event- we were even written up in the local paper! When we were done we bought some great books there and continued to our next destination-Smith's Falls. At Smith's Falls Library we got to present outside in the nice summer air under a shady tree. We had great attendance reaching nearly 100 people. It was a great location in the town so people that were walking in the town could easily stop and join in the crowd. Lyndhurst was the last stop and it was a small, intimate crowd. We got to learn everyone's names and had a young girl named Maya conquer her fear of holding a snake's head. She had actually joined us at Lanark and would only touch the snakes if the head was nowhere near her. That night we went back to our campsite and had a lovely campfire with Megan- a staff member at Murphy's Point. Yesterday was also a fun-filled day starting nice and early at New Dublin Library. Upon arrival we thought it was going to be our smallest crowd yet being in a small town, but we walked in to a whole audience of kids eager to see all the reptiles. This librarian had also done a lot of advertising for us and was super appreciative of our talk. On our way to our next stop we decided to go picnicing and stopped at Jones Falls and enjoyed the locks. It was a beautiful area to see, but yesterday was our hottest day taking a lot of energy from us all. We arrived at Rideau Lakes Day Camp next, and as soon as we got there we were rushed by children that were very excited to see the show. We got bombarded with questions like "What's in the box?" and "what animals do you have for us to see?" and "do you have any crocodiles?". The camp staff were super helpful and knew how to handle their large amount of campers. The kids were energized and interested and absorbed a lot of information. At the end we had a couple of counsellors who were afraid with the black rat snakes drooped over their necks. It was a long, hot day and both the kids and the snakes were very restless! We then got back to Murphy's Point and went straight for a swim! Adam and I (Katrina) went canoeing and saw two deer as well as an osprey and two loons. The lake we are on (Loon Lake) is beautiful! We had our two turtles (Petra and Pascal) out for some lovely sun around dinner time. Our last show was at Murphy's Point and the crowd was wonderful! It was still hot out though and the snakes were again super squirmy! We brought the snakes into the air conditionned staff house to sleep last night as the trailer was still 35 degrees by bed time and we have been having problems with our air conditioner. That night we stayed in the staff house and joined Chris, Justin, Chad and Megan for some lovely dice and card games. And that brings us to today! Today we have a day to relax and explore Murphy's. We're planning to go herping (looking for reptiles and amphibians) as well as enjoying some canoeing and reading. http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/some_hot_days_in_eastern_ontar.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/some_hot_days_in_eastern_ontar.php Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:45:57 -0500 It's been a while since our last report, and in the meantime we have been busy preparing for our first major road trip of the year. After returning from Georgian Bay, Adam and Katrina visited the Bancroft area on a day trip to do 2 shows. At Silent Lake almost the entire campground came out to see the reptiles. After a few hours visiting nearby towns, we returned to the Paudash Lake Marina to do a show for their annual Rock Bass Derby. After our return, we enjoyed a couple well-deserved days off! On Wednesday, we departed on our 2.5 week journey for our first stop at Bon Echo Provincial Park. Unfortunately, some challenges caused our departure to be delayed and the cancellation of our first day of shows. We would like to apologize to all the people wishing they caught the shows on day 1, and invite them to follow the calendar for our other shows in the area. Luckily, the problems were fairly minor and we were back on the road that evening. After a stop at the 24 Hour Egg Store in Asphodel, we were happy to arrive in Amherstview where we stayed for 2 nights. Thursday was a joyful day. With a new team member joining us, we enjoyed all 3 shows. Bryna loved teaching about the Black Rat Snake in a place where you can actually find them! Our first show at the Queens University Youth Science Camp saw us performing in a University lecture hall. Even with the more formal setting, the kids (and the counsellors) had an amazing time. After a delicious lunch, we met some great families at the Amherstview Library. Here, Amanda's family came out to see the show and they were by no means our biggest fans. Despite a mid-speech hug, Adam pulled it together and connected with the audience. To end Day 2, we were at the McLachlan Woodworking Museum in Joyceville. Many in the audience had come all the way from Kingston and the press even came out to photograph the show. Katrina had a great time letting the children hold the snakes that we had brought- one of the best things about our programs! Day 3 was no less busy, as we went out to Pirate Week in Gananoque. The girls were excited to meet Captain Jack Sparrow, and even managed to convince Adam to get in the picture with him, although with no snakes. Then we went to Lansdowne Library, en route to Charleston Lake Provincial Park, where we spent the next 2 nights. We didn't manage to find any Black Rat Snakes while there but we did find a shed skin in a tree. Other highlights in the park were 5 different woodpeckers, flocks of Cedar Waxwings, a Scarlet Tanager and a variety of warblers. Saturday saw us at the Farmersville in Athens, where the antique car and motor show intrigued us greatly. In the evening, we did the actual show at Charleston Lake. By then, we had already made some friends with the campers and we were glad to see many familiar faces. Sunday morning we did some early morning wildlife watching and then moved on to our newest temporary home in Murphy's Point Provincial Park. We would like to thank the staff who are letting us park the trailer outside of their bunkhouse. This is the closest campsite we have had to a beach yet! Before we could do the evening show at Murphy's Point we spent the afternoon at the Stewart Park Music Festival in Perth. We competed with both the main music stage as well as a waterfall, but still the show was enjoyed by all! The evening show ended with a bang as rain starting pouring and the lightning was striking. Some of the keenest campers took what little shelter was to be had as they clamored to hold the snakes. Upcoming are many library shows, so hopefully everyone will get more frequent updates as should have better internet access! Adam http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/the_eastern_ontario_tour_begin.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/the_eastern_ontario_tour_begin.php Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:07:58 -0500 MacTier Library, a small town famous for its railway heritage. This was not the first time seeing the show for many in our audience, and they welcomed us back with open arms. Next we drove east to Port Carling in the Muskoka Lakes, where we had so many families come that they couldn't even all fit in the room! We were happy to arrive early enough that evening at Killbear Provincial Park to take a walk around the beautiful Nature Centre and have a quick swim at the beach. The show that night was a great one, thanks to the wonderful Parks staff and an energetic crowd filling the amphitheatre. Such a fun time! We had a cozy sleep that night in our trailer, with the snakes each being put to bed in their own large plastic sweaterbox homes, and the turtles in the bathtub. Day 2 was an easy start at Sturgeon Bay Provincial Park, where after our small presentation on the beach we were lucky to spot a 5-lined skink (Ontario's only lizard) darting across the sand! Onwards to the Alban community centre in French River. The librarian there went out of her way to promote our visit, and we had a terrific turnout for such a small community. With our shows going so well, Jeff treated the team to some delicious fish n' chips for dinner in the the small fishing village of Killarney, before camping out at Killarney Provincial Park. The scenery there was stunning- blue lakes and rocky shore, we can see why the Group of Seven loved this place so much! We enjoyed our swims at George Lake that evening and a short hike on La Cloche trail the next morning before our show. Little 3 year old Mari loved the snakes so much that she gave each of us a hug before she left. Talk about great :) Our last stop was Grundy Lake Provincial Park- a keen crowd and a gorgeous setting, there was nothing left to do but swim before we had to leave our lovely Canadian Shield and head home to Orillia. One thing we can all agree on... this is going to be a fabulous summer! Until next time.... - Amanda]]> http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/the_biggest_little_roadtrip.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/the_biggest_little_roadtrip.php Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:24:55 -0500 We're back on the road again! After some delays in our funding announcements this spring, we're happy to say that the Reptiles at Risk on the Road project lives on! The staff are hired, we're scheduling lots of programs as quickly as we can, and the road team set off this morning on a 3 day shakedown cruise in the northern Georgian Bay region. I'm with them to help with the first few days of learning about travelling with our aging van and trailer, and everything else that goes along with our activities! I'm sure you'll hear more soon from Adam, Amanda, and Katrina- the road team for the project this summer. They'll be in eastern Ontario later in July and southwestern Ontario in August. We also have a home team- Sarah and Carl, who are delivering programming within central Ontario, roughly within a 2 hour drive of Orillia. They'll be sharing some stories here on the blog as well. Stay tuned for more exciting details... Jeff http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/the_summer_of_2011_begins.php http://www.reptilesatrisk.org/2011/07/the_summer_of_2011_begins.php Wed, 06 Jul 2011 10:43:53 -0500