Residents get to hold turtles and snake at Jefferson County Park

Jan 24, 2024

Aug. 4, 2023 5:49 pm

FAIRFIELD – Inclement weather on Wednesday, Aug. 2, forced Jefferson County Conservation to cancel its Outdoor Adventure Night, but luckily it was not a total loss as the conservation department was able to schedule an indoor program on reptiles to take its place.

Jefferson County Naturalist Brittney Tiller said she was “bummed” when rain started to fall that day while she was setting up for the Outdoor Adventure Program, which had already been rescheduled from the week before because of excessive heat. The program features kayaking, canoeing, hiking, fishing, archery and a BB shoot, but unfortunately there was no way to get it in with the inclement weather.

Hoping to salvage something positive from the day, Tiller scheduled an impromptu program on reptiles, where the public was invited to learn about and even hold the turtles and snake that live at the Jefferson County Nature Center. The center held three separate sessions that evening, and the total attendance was 90, which Tiller said she was very pleased with.

“I was really pleased that we were able to do something,” Tiller said. “We thought we might have too many people if we tried to do just one program, so we split it up into three, and each hour was well attended.”

The reptiles that live at the nature center include a box turtle, a painted turtle and a map turtle, so named because the contour lines on its shell resemble a map. The box turtle was somebody’s pet at one time, and that person donated it to the nature center. For the other turtles, conservation employees discovered them in the wild and brought them back to live at the nature center. Tiller said the turtles will be released back into the wild once they get too big for their enclosures.

The snake that Tiller showed the crowd was a corn snake, also called a red snake, which is nonvenomous. According to reptilia.org, it’s not clear where the snake’s name came from, but one theory is that it got its name by hanging around grain stores where it preyed on mice and rats. Another theory is that its name came from its checkered pattern on its belly, which resembles kernels of Indian corn.

Tiller said she enjoys incorporating the reptiles at the nature center into various programs. She said it’s particularly important to educate kids about snakes, so they’re not afraid of them.

“We want a kid’s first experience with a snake to be positive,” Tiller said. “We want them to see that these are cool and interesting animals, and that we don’t need to kill or fear them.”

Tiller said she is thankful for the support of summer intern Lauren Snyder, who is finishing her third year as a summer intern with Jefferson County Conservation.

“She has picked up so much slack,” Tiller said. “Without her, we couldn’t do all the summer programming that we offer.”

Also assisting in this year’s summer programming was Van Buren County Naturalist Chloe Proffitt, who is also Van Buren County’s first naturalist. Tiller mentioned that the two counties like to collaborate on programming, such as joint programs at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park in Keosauqua.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at [email protected]