Since our last update, we have completed a few more key aspects of the project.
We installed the presentation monitor and its support arm. Below is a photo of the finished product.
Below and to the right of the monitor is the PA system which we also installed.
The monitor is attached by a quick disconnect to a retractable support arm as seen in the next photo.
The black and silver box on the back of the monitor mounting arm is a NUC computer that runs the monitor.
The monitor support arm folds securely against the vehicle during travel.
We also installed water tank level sending units (the silver device with the black wire) on both water tanks to allow us to know at a glance how much water is in our tanks.
This is needed for the obvious reason that water is life for our animals and for us on multi-day excursions – and also because we use water as a ballast to balance out our load while the vehicle is underway.
The water level sending units send their signal to the same panel that reports the status of our solar power system – that fact made installation and use very easy.
On June 5th, 2022 the SS NaSA PoD mobile outreach classroom rolled out for its first official outreach program at a local girl’s camp! It was a wonderful success!
Watch the video below to see the PoD in action!
Since our first official outreach program, we have presented two more programs – one at a local boy’s camp, and another at a river festival – what follows are some photos from those wonderful events.
THANK YOU to everyone who has supported and is continuing to support this most unique environmental outreach education project – we are eternally grateful for your most generous support. You are all the greatest of heroes!!!
This amazing outreach education project will serve to inspire and educate all the curiosity seekers who discover it. But to do this right – we do still need your support. The next steps in working toward the completion of the PoD are outlined below and will most likely occur in the following order:
Installing the microscope* station.
Stocking the field guide library.
Updating the curtains and cushions with an appropriate theme.
Installing the 120/240 Volt “shore power” service.
Painting the PoD and installing appropriate decals/insignia.*
Installing the composting toilet.*
*These are our remaining needs. If you are interested in assisting us with a donation of these final items and/or the support needed for us to be able to complete this project – please do contact us directly or feel free to donate via the links below.
If you do choose to assist us in making this project a reality, this unique mobile classroom will greatly benefit the nature, environment, and wildlife conservation education, evidence-supported science, reality, common sense, and renewable energy awareness education for all our outreach program participants in the WNC region as well as our wonderful students at Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum who will benefit from the unique wonders it will contain while they are in class and in the field on expedition.
We will be sure to share any and all updates in posts on this blog, in our end-of-year newsletter, and on our YouTube channel so please consider subscribing to stay up to date on this wonderful project.
The SS NaSA PoD and the Mighty Bolt EV (our primary outreach vehicle) are owned by ENP (501c3) and used primarily as the ENP company outreach vehicle and mobile outreach classroom for ENP and our education partners Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum. They will be powered and fueled primarily with cleanly-generated electricity provided by the ENP/Trails student-built classroom solar array and the SS NaSA PoD’s rooftop solar array. They will both serve as outstanding teaching tools for our Trails students and ENP outreach program participants.
Please note: any/all ads that appear within or below this post are not provided, supported, or endorsed by ENP nor are we supported in any way by these ads – they are an automated feature of WordPress.com.
Note: I apologize in advance for the bizarre formatting in the following post. I have tried everything to rectify the issues – yet they persist.
It has been a very strange year but we are still here. Although we lost close to 100% of our nonprofit income this year due to not being able to present our outreach programming to the public in schools, camps, festivals, special events, and birthday parties – it was your support that kept us above water…but only just.
Even with the global pandemic we still managed to accomplish amazing things this year!
Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation
In the spring of 2020 we rescued a family of young Opossum joeys who lost their mother. They were close to the age where they would have left the warm home of their mother’s pouch to strike out on their own so we gave them a few days to build their strength, fed them tasty natural treats, and released them in a remote forest. (See them in the Virtual Leaf Festival video linked later in this document). We rescued only one Eastern box turtle this year. Strangely, it was found in the bathroom of a motel in a nearby town. There was no suitable box turtle habitat near the motel so our hypothesis is that a visitor to the motel may have picked it up during a local forest excursion on a local highway or byway, it may have come from out of state, it may have been a “pet,” that was forgotten when its “owner” departed – or it may have been left intentionally. Whatever the case, we have no idea on its origins and therefore, due to its questionable origins, it cannot be released into the wild for fear of vectoring a disease to the local box turtle population – so it is now in our quarantine facility. Come spring of 2021, if it checks out health wise, it will join our small population of non-releasable education ambassadors in our newly improved box turtle habitat.
Yes, that’s right, one of this year’s major projects was to improve and enlarge our outdoor box turtle habitat. The students of Trails Momentum worked very hard over the summer to increase the habitat’s size by over 2x its original footprint. They also built a newer and better shelter/overwintering structure for our 9 non-releasable resident Eastern box turtles and our two Red-footed tortoises who share the habitat during the warmer months of the year. The students also built a very nice stone shelter structure in the box turtle habit and named it “Turtlehenge” – so cool!
This year we also relocated several Copperheads, a dozen hatchling Common snapping turtles, and one massive Timber rattlesnake. These beautiful and very misunderstood animals were discovered in areas that are highly used by humans therefore, for the safety of all parties, they needed to be moved to new habitats. While the trans-location of reptiles is not the ideal option – it is far better than the other option of death. I moved these animals to remote locations in protected areas with excellent habitat and resources that will hopefully serve to meet their needs for the rest of their lives.
A New Recruit!
In the fall we adopted a female opossum from the wonderful folks at Appalachian Wildlife Refuge. They had rescued her after she was hit by a car and lost an eye. She also has some neurological trauma and therefore, due to her injuries, is non-releasable. She will spend the rest of her days with us where she will live in our awesome ‘possum palace as an education ambassador for her kind.
Opossum facts: The Virginia Opossum, or ‘possum, is North America’s only native marsupial. Female Opossums have a pouch on their belly where they can carry up to 13 joeys. When the joeys are old enough they climb onto their mother’s back and cling to her soft fur and watch everything she does – this is their “home schooling” time where they learn all there is to know about being an Opossum. When they are too heavy to hold on, they fall off and start their lives as mostly solitary, mostly nomadic, most important members of the forest community. Opossums have 50 teeth – that is more than any land mammal in North America! Opossums are omnivores and will use all those teeth to eat just about anything including carrion. Some of their favorite foods are wild berries, grapes, persimmons, strawberries, bananas, and any insect they can catch including all the pest species that would invade your home and garden as well as small rodents such as mice, moles, voles, and rats. They will even eat lizards and snakes including venomous snakes such as Copperheads and rattlesnakes! Opossums have a very strong resistance to the venoms of these snakes and therefore, if bitten by their meal, they just shrug it off and continue on with their serpentine lunch. Opossums are also highly resistant to the Rabies virus so it is extremely rare for an Opossum to catch, carry, or transmit rabies. Opossums are nocturnal so you will usually not see them during the day as this is the time they are comfortably sleeping in whatever warm place they have found to call home for the night. Opossums do not hibernate so they may be seen at almost any time of the year – but not usually during the coldest times when they just stay home, roll over, and sleep in until it gets warmer. They are not equipped for excavating burrows so they will often use the abandoned burrows of other animals such as Groundhogs, skunks, foxes, and sometimes the crawl space under your house. Opossums have very dexterous toes and opposable thumbs on their hind feet – just like we have on our hands. These adaptations help them hold onto tree branches when they are searching for some of their favorite foods – birds and their eggs, rodents, and fruit. Opossums also have a prehensile tail that helps stabilize them when navigating in the tree branches and it also allows them to carry bedding materials back to their den to make a soft nest to sleep in as in this photo of Potter some of you may remember from almost a decade ago.
When frightened and/or cornered, Opossums will snarl, growl, and show their wide toothy grin, but they rarely bite. If the threat does not abate the Opossum will “play ‘possum” – it will go into a self-induced, involuntary comatose state where it will fall over, often defecate and urinate on itself, stiffen, – and for all intents and purposes – appear dead. This incredible tactic serves to deter the would-be attacker from feeding upon what looks like a possibly sick animal and it departs to find a better meal. After a time, the Opossum reanimates, grooms itself, and continues on about its day as if nothing happened. Opossums are amazing and wonderful creatures that help us far more than we will ever know. While they are misunderstood by many, they deserve our respect and admiration for the special and vital role they play in helping to keep nature in balance.
Outreach
Photo: Our volunteers are AMAZING and make it all possible!
Unlike every year during the decade since our founding, due to the pandemic in 2020 we were only able to present one in-person public nature education program this year in February. We did however, adapt to the situation and present several virtual programs for private family groups, one science museum program, and one virtual festival. Please feel free to watch two of these via the following links.
Virtual LEAF Festival video
Asheville Museum of Science Ask a Scientist Series
Sadly, until the pandemic subsides and things start to get back to some kind of “normal,” we will not be able to physically take our animal ambassadors and our outreach programming classes into any classrooms, summer camps, festivals, or special events. However, we will continue to introduce and educate thousands of people to the wonder and beauty of wildlife, nature, and our deep interconnectedness to our shared environment via our virtual programming and via our YouTube channel. These online platforms allow us to offer alternative and safe ways for you to learn and support nature, live alongside and respect wildlife, and be better stewards of our shared environmental life support system with the adoption of cleaner, more energy secure, renewable energy and transportation technologies such as our focus – solar energy and electric vehicles.
Speaking of vehicles, September 29th, 2020 was our one year anniversary of driving the ENP Chevy Bolt EV – The “Mighty Bolt” as we lovingly call her – as our dedicated outreach education and wildlife rescue vehicle.
Photo: Mighty Bolt meets young Rat snake.
Keep reading for some mighty cool “Mighty Bolt” stats from the first year of driving the ENP Mighty Bolt EV:
14,356 miles driven.
That is an average of: 1,196.33 miles per month. 299.08 miles per week. 42.72 miles per day.
Estimated Gallons of Hydrocarbon Fuel Saved: 613 Estimated CO2 Avoided: 12,153 lbs.
Fuel costs: For the 14,356 total miles traveled: $176.71 – or, $14.71 per month. $3.68 per week. $.52 per day.
So that breaks down to an average of $0.012 cents per mile for the Mighty Bolt’s electron fuel.
$0.1 cents per mile! I will let that sink in for a moment.
The math: 176.71(fuel cost)/14,356(miles driven) = .0123 (cost/mile)
Photo: Mighty Bolt meets Box turtle.
I have calculated that if ENP were still using a gasoline powered vehicle for our work, its fuel costs would have been around .13 cents per mile which would add up to around $1,800 for one year of use – and that is not including repairs, ”tune ups,” and maintenance costs! The ENP outreach EV is over 75% solar charged so its operational costs are lower than if it were to be charged only on grid power. Even if we had charged the Mighty Bolt EV on grid power alone it would have only increased our operational costs to: $433.017 – wow! Still a much better deal than anything powered by fossil fuels. The math: 4,330.17(kWh used to fuel EV) x .10(energy cost/kWh) = 433.017
Driving electric over the last year has given ENP an operational cost savings of over $1,600! No matter who you are, where you are from, or how much money you have to burn – you must logically agree the choice is mighty clear: the Mighty Bolt EV is the best choice for ENP in getting from point A to point B!
A very revealing energy use chart for year one with the Mighty Bolt EV.
The ENP Bolt EV is truly Mighty, it is over 75% solar charged and therefore costs ENP only .01 cents/mile to drive, it has a very small environmental footprint, and it serves as a wonderful energy education teaching tool inspiring the next generation to think above and beyond the status quo.
SO COOL!
Photo: The Mighty Bolt after a canoeing expedition on a local lake.
The ENP EV Motto: Drive electric to preserve nature, wildlife, and wild places. Drive electric for the health of you and your family. Drive electric for freedom from dependence on expensive, polluting fossil fuels. Drive electric for energy independence. Drive electric for a better future for all.
(ENP Executive Director Steve O’Neil co-founded this club)
This EV is owned by ENP and is used primarily as the ENP company outreach vehicle. It is charged and fueled mostly with cleanly generated electricity provided by the ENP/Trails student-built classroom solar array. It also serves as an outstanding teaching tool for our Trails students, ENP outreach program participants, and everyone we meet.
Organic Garden and Chickens
YUM!
2020 was the fourth year for our student organic garden project. This year, after letting the chickens free range in the garden and turn and fertilize the soil over the fall and winter months, we decided to plant our garden in the soil again. This no-till all-natural fertilization and planting method worked surprisingly well. It allowed us to produce almost as many tasty organic vegetables as we produced in the 2019 straw bale garden experiment. We also noticed more vigorous plants and far less pests this year and it may be due to the chickens scratching up and eating many of the pests overwintering in the soil. We believe the only way to have a truly organic garden is to not use any toxic chemicals or fossil fuels in the preparation and tending of the garden so, as in past years, this year the students and I prepared the garden using only human and chicken power and fertilized it with composted food scraps and composted animal waste from our chickens and education animals and a few local horses.
Photo: Garden Goodness!
The students planted and tended the garden throughout its growing season and we never used any toxic insecticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers! I am happy to say that our fourth year of the garden project was a great and tasty success with over 100 yummy squash, endless bunches of green beans, countless tomatoes, Peruvian black corn, red and yellow carrots, and several varieties of peppers – and this year our Passion fruit vine produced dozens of tasty fruits! All of this wonderful organic produce was shared among the students, staff, chickens, turtles, and tortoises! We also constructed a new grape arbor and planted six apple trees – so next year we hope to have an even more fruitful harvest.
Photo: Happy birds basking in the summer sun 🙂
Our small flock of friendly laying hens had a slow start but grew to over 25 birds this year! Several of the new recruits stayed with us and several more were adopted by chicken people in the community. Our chickens are free-range, organically fed, and have been hand-raised by our students as pets. They are wonderful therapy animals – with the great side benefits of giving us tasty organic, free-range eggs, no-cost organic fertilizer, and toxin and pesticide-free pest control for our student organic garden project!
Photo: Moonlight with her chicks. She is nesting in the coop-car – a salvaged EV converted into a chicken nesting coop.
Just in case you missed it, ENP was featured inThe Laurel of Asheville
Or just search online for “Laurel of Asheville Earthshine Nature”
The ENP Renewable Energy Program
Photo: A drone’s eye view of the ENP office/classroom/science lab/organic gardens.
On November 8th 2020 we celebrated three full years of producing clean, renewable, “locally grown” solar electricity for our classroom and electron fuel for the ENP outreach EV! With the generous support of Bob Harris of Black Bear Solar Institute, Pisgah Forest resident Jim Hardy, Lake Toxaway Charities, Trails Carolina, Trails Momentum, and our many other wonderful project supporters – maybe you were one of them – and all of my amazing Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum students, ENP interns, and volunteers – this project has been an phenomenal success! As of the writing of this document our student-built solar array has produced over 22 megawatt-hours of clean, renewably produced, electricity! Since the classroom solar array became fully operational on July 04th 2019 (our Energy Independence Day) it has consistently, quietly, and without any harmful toxic pollution or emissions, produced close to 4 times the power we need to meet the daily needs of our classroom building, education animal habitats, our all-electric outreach vehicle’s electron fuel needs – all this and with power to share! We produce so much electricity that we send the surplus out to the local energy grid giving our closest neighbors on the campus of Trails Momentum renewable energy. Some of that excess power even goes to our nearby off-campus neighbors. Over the course of the entire year that excess has totaled close to 10 mWh – so our classroom has now become a renewable energy power plant not only for the campus and students of Trails Momentum but also for the local community!! Due to all that excess energy production, we have built up so much energy credit with Duke Energy that we could turn off the array and run on solar credits for several months without paying anything for energy!
Photo: An even higher drone’s eye view
With the completion of Phase 2 last year, the most complex portion of our classroom solar array project is now complete. We are now continuing with fundraising for Phase 3 – the final Phase of our classroom energy project. This will consist of a “secure power” off-grid circuit that will allow us to use energy direct from the solar array – this backup power system is almost finished and when online it will allow us to harvest electricity directly from the solar array when our grid connection is offline, giving us power as long as the sun shines. The final components of Phase 3 is a “plug and play” battery storage system that will store excess electricity produced during the day and will then supply that stored solar energy to all our building’s systems at night and during power outages. We will then only use our grid connection to Duke Energy as a back-up power source during long periods of dark/rainy/stormy weather. Isn’t science amazing! To make the remaining portion of the 3rd and final Phase of this amazing student energy project a reality for our classroom, our students, and our animal ambassadors, we need your continued support in this final push to the end.
Photo: Steve and a student place the first solar module (panel) on Phase Two of the Classroom Solar Array
Please consider making a year-end gift to Earthshine Nature Programs and help us reach our renewable energy-powered goals. Read on for several other unique ways you can support us later in this document.
Watch this short time-lapse video of Phase Two of the solar array’s construction!
Supporter Spotlight – Jewell and Joe Mimms
My mother-in-law Jewell Mimms was born in 1939 in the beautiful, wild, mountains of Western North Carolina in a small log cabin without electricity or running water. She spent her life dedicated to her family and friends, her religion, reading almost anything, and to her music. She was an accomplished musician and could play the piano and guitar, and she had a beautiful voice and loved to sing with friends and with her daughter, my wife Marian. Jewell’s husband Joe Mimms was born in 1928 in southern Georgia and, like his wife, he grew up on a remote farm without electricity or running water. Joe joined the Navy when he was a teenager where he became a master radio operator/electrician and later focused on the new and quickly evolving fields of computers and radar. Joe’s mastery of these technologies led him to serve in all branches of the armed services save for the Marines and Coast Guard. After leaving the service Joe worked as a communications and computer specialist for NASA during the Apollo era. Joe was one of the specialists responsible for keeping the massive deep space network tracking/communications antennas at the Pisgah Tracking Station (now the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute) locked on the Apollo spacecraft as they journeyed to and from the moon! Joe loved nature and spent much of his off time hamming it up on his amateur radio set, in the forest hunting deer, or on the lakes and rivers fishing for catfish – his favorite. Jewell and Joe supported Earthshine Nature Programs with generous donations for many years because they had a very close connection with nature when they were young and felt that kids today were drifting away from this most important connection with nature. They understood that Earthshine Nature Programs’ education programs and projects serve to connect people of all ages with the natural world and how important that is in today’s world. Jewell and Joe left us over the last few years but their legacy lives on in all of the projects and programs they supported with their donations over the past decade. Thank you Jewell and Joe for your love, wisdom, knowledge, and for your support of ENP – you are both so greatly missed by so many.
Our wildlife tracking programs have ended and we are now focusing all our energy on our classroom and environmental education outreach programming, wildlife rehabilitation, and renewable energy education programs as well as on reporting our findings from the reptile conservation projects we conducted over the last decade of following misunderstood reptiles. What we learned while tracking these wild reptiles is far too much to fit into the pages of this newsletter so we have decided to write it all down and share it with you in three very special publications. The first of these three publications – The Rattlesnakes of the Blue Ridge – contains a naturalist’s perspective on everything we have learned by following the secret lives of Utsanati and Zoe – the two wild Timber rattlesnakes we followed in their native habitats for four years in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of WNC. Within the pages you will find an overview of the natural history of the Timber rattlesnake, a consolidation of my field observations and personal reflections, tracking and activity maps, and many high-quality photographs. This document, and the others that will follow on our Eastern box turtle and Black rat snake conservation projects, will grant fascinating insight into the lives of these unique, wonderful, and very misunderstood creatures as well as useful information on coexisting with these animals and other native wildlife species on your lands. All proceeds from the sale of this, and the future documents in this series will be 100% directed toward our continuing nonprofit wildlife conservation, rehabilitation, and environmental education missions.
Photo: Ben Franklin – a rescue turtle from many years ago.
To purchase a copy of The Rattlesnakes of the Blue Ridge, and/orTurtle Tracks: Box Turtles of the Blue Ridge or Snake Trails: The Rat Snakes That Live Among Us at the special price of $30.00 each – please contact us via our email address or via the contact link on our website http://www.earthshinenature.com/contact
There Are So Many Ways to Support Our Work
We welcome your support in keeping our unique programming alive – especially now with the pandemic greatly reducing our nonprofit outreach income. There are many ways you can choose to help us make our programs and projects a reality. During the pandemic the best and safest way to support us isthrough direct donations of funds and supplies and there are several ways to do so;
Donate on our website www.earthshinenature.com/donate via the PayPal link – while you are there please take a look at our website wish list for more detailed information on our current needs.
Send us a donation to our “snail mail” address – contact us for more information.
Visit our Amazon Wish List at this TinyURL Amazon link: https://preview.tinyurl.com/y6mvwzm5 orby searching Amazon for the Earthshine Nature Programs Wish List.
An easy way to support us – at no cost to you – is via Amazon Smile donations. Just visit: smile.amazon.com and sign up to support Earthshine Nature Programs and every time you make a purchase on Amazon using your Amazon smile account, a portion of Amazon’s profits will be donated to ENP!
Support us with a Legacy Donation. This is a gift from you to ENP in your will. It could be monetary, land, or even a vehicle donation. For more details please visit: www.earthshinenature.com/donate
After the pandemic subsides you may donate time and energy by volunteering with us as we always have many opportunities available from working festivals, in the garden, cleaning animal habitats, etc.
Due to the pandemic we are exploring new ways of conducting our outreach programming outside of the classroom. To that end we are now looking for a hard shell mini-camper to use as a portable outreach classroom. A camper donation of any size or age will be considered but our best fit would be a small unit we could pull behind our outreach EV such the smallest versions of the Scamp, Casita, Lil Snoozy, or Happier Camper mini-campers. If you choose to donate a used or new mini-camper to ENP we will be sure to put it to good use as a mobile outreach education classroom that will benefit all our program participants on the road at schools, camps, festivals, and all of our Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum students.
Photo: Steve teaching in the Trails/ENP classroom.
Howeveryou choose to support us, your support will have a lasting positive impact on our ability to bring our nature, wildlife conservation, and science literacy messages to the hundreds of young naturalists, scientists, and thinkers that we encounter each year via our outreach programming in the local and regional community, and through our wonderful partnership with Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum where Steve works as naturalist to provide nature knowledge, science education, curiosity, and inspiration to their populations of outstanding youth. Learn more at: Trailscarolina.comand Trailsmomentum.com
All donations to ENP are tax deductible. Receipts available upon request.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Photo: 2019 intern Abby and friends at a local river festival.
Without your continued support, Earthshine Nature Programs would not function. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation, end of year, or legacy gift to us today and in the future. Earthshine Nature Programs is a 501c3, donation-funded, volunteer operated, wildlife conservation and rehabilitation, environmental stewardship, science education and communication, not for profit organization.
At ENP we are passionate about sharing our love, respect, and curiosity for nature, wildlife and wild places, environmental stewardship, science literacy, and reason with everyone we meet – especially our classroom and outreach programming students. It is the students of today who will make the big wildlife and nature conservation, science, and energy decisions of the future, and it is our goal to communicate to our students the most up to date, unbiased, peer-reviewed evidence, practices, technologies, and environmental ethics so they will be better informed and ready to take on the world and will be the change that will guide us all forward. We feel that by sharing the facts and evidence, demonstrating working models of what is possible, respectfully coexisting with each other, and by working together toward the common goal of creating and maintaining a better world for all living things today and into the future, we will bring the changes that will make all of our dreams come true.
Earthshine Nature Programs(501c3) is supported primarily through monetary, resource, and time donations from caring, concerned individuals just like you. We work hard to fundraise and acquire grants and donations from any and all sources that would like to support us. With your help with a one-time donation of equipment or funds, a year-end gift, a legacy gift, and/or your continuing patronage, and eventually – post pandemic – we will get back to hands-on volunteering. With our help, together we will continue to create something truly unique and wonderful that will serve to educate and inspire the thousands of students, summer campers, knowledge seekers, and others we meet each year with a newfound curiosity, a greater respect, an evidence-supported understanding, and a powerful conservation ethic for caring for the natural environment that supports us all and gives us all life.
In a recent article I read about two women who save rattlesnakes from being killed on roads. These women are heroes to me and their journey has inspired me to put my thoughts down on “paper” and share them with all of you.
Like these amazing women, I have been saving snakes – Rattlesnakes included – and all others as well as turtles, salamanders and Opossums for as long as I have been driving.
With most incidents I quickly move the animal to to the side of the road it is moving toward and then move on without incident. Below are a few videos of some of my rescues when I was toting a video camera.
Box turtles (and all others) need our help across the road
And just last year I rescued one Timber rattlesnake from a garden and then another as I drove home from the first rescue – two in one night!
On another occasion several people worked together to get one small box turtle back to her home in the remote forest.
A copperhead rescue…
Most of the times when I am rescuing wildlife from the road the other drivers will slow down and wait for me to rescue the animal and sometimes even thank me out the window as they pass. I believe most people are really good and helpful and may only hit small creatures crossing the roads on accident.
Other, thankfully more rare times, I have had drivers swerve their vehicles toward me and speed up in the attempt to hit the animal before I get to it.
Once this happened as a friend and I had just pulled over and were jogging toward an Eastern box turtle that was attempting to cross a curvy 2 lane road in the mountains near Boone, NC. As we were approaching the turtle a huge jacked up “redneck” truck with nasty diesel smoke belching from over-sized “hey look at me” loud exhaust pipes swerved past us, accelerated and aimed for the animal. We could only watch as the helpless reptile died in a cartwheel of blood and gore under the giant tires of the infantile driver’s weapon of death. As the truck hit the turtle with a very audible “pop” we could hear the hoots and catcalls from the driver and passenger as they celebrated their murder of an innocent and helpless creature. I am normally a calm, easy going person but at that moment I was so mad and disgusted with humanity that if that driver had turned around I do not know what I would have done but it would not have been nice.
Many years ago I witnessed the aftermath of a similar incident that I recorded in the below video.
In the following video YouTuber Mark Rober conducts an experiment to explore the connections between the species of the animal and how many drivers target them.
In another incident, as I was driving home one warm summer night when I noticed a medium sized Copperhead warming its belly on a remote road. I saw the snake in the last instant and was forced to straddle it with my car to avoid hitting it and then I quickly pulled off the road and jumped out to move it before the approaching vehicle could hit it. Unfortunately the driver was only a few car lengths behind and probably did not see it as they came into the dark curve and hit the snake which quickly died…and so did the 9 babies gestating in its belly.
Yet another time I watched as a driver on a cellphone driving on a busy Florida highway mowed down an adult Gopher tortoise as it tried to cross the road – yet another cartwheel of blood and gore from a protected keystone species. The driver never even tapped her brakes but from my vantage point I have no idea how she did not see the animal.
Other times I have stopped to move road-killed animals off the road in order to not cause the deaths of the scavengers that come to feed on them. When I have moved rattlesnakes they almost always have a missing rattle (see the video below in which I find just that). – This is evidence that the murderer took the snake’s rattle as a trophy of their conquest of the “fearsome deadly beast” they now probably brag about to their friends to boost their childish machismo at the expense of another creatures life – now you see how I feel about trophy hunting.
In the third installment in the Sad Snake series I encounter a cold blooded murder scene and I get a bit heated at the insanity and ignorance of the Human species.
Then there’s the type of people that swerve in the attempt to maybe intimidate me into;
A. Dropping the animal and running so they can kill it with their rolling death machine.
B. Assisting with their deadly plans by throwing it under their wheels so they can kill it with their rolling death machine.
C. Possibly kill us both with their rolling death machine because they are holding onto some misplaced ancient dogma that insists that snakes are “evil” and anyone who associates with them must also be “evil” so it would be appropriate to kill both of the “evil” creatures at the same time. Really? Yes, there are misguided people like that still out there walking and driving the earth – some of them are even toting guns – yikes!
It is truly sad that in this day of scientific breakthroughs leading to technological achievements that allow us to drive great distances in machines of science (cars, planes, trains, ships, rockets etc..), connect with others at the speed of light using devices of science (smartphones, internet, satellites, computers,…), and the fact that many of us owe our very lives to the findings of science by way of medications derived from snake venom such as snake bite antivenin and some cancer and pain treatments and more and even more). Watch the video below for more on this.
Crofab antivenin is used in treating the bite of pitvipers. The video below shows how venom is extracted from Rattlesnakes before used to produce lifesaving antivenin.
Here is a another good, but a bit over dramatized, video of how Crofab is used to treat the bite of Pitvipers.
Then there is the simple fact that through thousands of years of direct observation and the findings of science, that we now know for absolute fact that snakes eat lots of rodents (mice, rats, voles etc…) and that these rodents, if not kept in check by snakes and other predators, would overpopulate destroying our crops and spreading deadly disease–watch an example in the following video.
Sadly it seems that there remain many good and bad people, or should I say “Sheeple,” who choose to live their lives blindly following ancient or ignorant beliefs rather than truth, reason, logic, knowledge, and the findings of science.
I feel sorry for these people.
I feel sorry for them because they are so closed to the facts that their actions of killing snakes and other wildlife end up make this thing called life harder for us all – from the snake crossing the road to the rest of us just trying to make a living.
Yes, I rescue snakes and other wildlife from roads, homes, and wherever else they are in need. I rescue them because they need rescuing from the bullying humans who are BY FAR more dangerous and deadly than the snakes they target with their cars, hoes, guns, shovels, and fear driven ancient beliefs and venom spitting narrow-minded hatreds. I also choose to make a difference by teaching the scientific truths — based on reason, knowledge, and experimentation as well as thousands of years of collective observation by countless scientists, naturalists, animal lovers and farmers all over the planet — to anyone and everyone who will listen. I do this through my science classes, my small nonprofit education and outreach organization Earthshine Nature Programs, my YouTube Channel and this blog.
Please, do not be a sheeple. Before you choose to harm or kill a snake, do some simple research and learn more about the creature who’s life you are preparing to end.
BTW, yes I have been bitten by a Rattlesnake and no, I did not kill it in vengeance – in fact, I let it go so it could eat more rodents. Oh and thank you science for saving the finger that I am using to type these words with antivenin derived from snake venom and the findings of science.
I leave you with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi – “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it’s animals are treated. “
That’s right, Earthshine Nature Programs Executive Director Steve O’Neil and Team Earthshine Nature Nerds will be running again this year in the Mad Mountain Mud Run 5K in Hendersonville, NC on Saturday May 30th, 2015!
For 2015 the Nature Nerds will be sharing the muddy trail with The Trails Turbo Turtles! The Turbo Turtles consist of several Steve’s students and staff of The Academy at Trails Carolina and Trails Carolina! Captain Steve will be overall captain of both the Nature Nerds and the Turbo Turtles.
Many of the Turbo Turtles are experienced runners, hikers, Mtn. bikers and climbers so do not let the name fool you–the Turbo Turtles are a force of nature and may just take overall best time in the Mud Run!
Our nerdy nature goal is to run representing Earthshine Nature Programs as our 2015 spring fundraiser. To do this we need sponsors that are willing to support Earthshine Nature Programs with a pledge. Your pledge will provide direct and 100% support to our environmental science education and wildlife rehabilitation and conservation programs and projects.
Our muddy community goal is to run in support of the Hands On A Child’s Gallery based in Hendersonville, NC and Trails Carolina/The Academy at Trails Carolina with our afternoon of challenging obstacles and muddy fun!
Last year and this year the students and I have constructed an obstacle for the Mud Run — take a look at a few photos of this years obstacle that we call the ENP/Trails Turbo Tunnels!!
Take a look at the course map for a taste of what we may have in store for us this year! It should be a muddy fun challenge!
Sponsor Awards
Any donation is welcome and needed however…
Those who sponsor ENP with $50 or more will receive your business logo or name and weblink* on the ENP supporters website, in a posting in this blog (to be updated after the race), and on the back of our custom mud run t-shirt that we will proudly wear during the race.
Those who sponsor us for $500 or more will receive your business logo or name and weblink* on the ENP supporters website, in a posting in this blog (to be updated after the race), on the back of our custom mud run t-shirt that we will proudly wear during the race, four custom designed ENP Medici Lighted writing Pens from Myron.com, your own custom mud run t-shirt, and one “Honored Supporter” custom award (made by Steve) which includes a certificate of appreciation and small glass vial filled with a small amount of the actual mud from the race course that we will run through on May 30 th!
Those who sponsor us for $1000 or more will receive will receive your business logo or name and weblink* on the ENP supporters website, in a posting in this blog (to be updated after the race), on the back of our custom mud run t-shirt that we will proudly wear during the race, six custom designed ENP Medici Lighted writing Pens from Myron.com, your own custom mud run t-shirt, and one “Honored Supporter” custom award (made by Steve) which includes a certificate of appreciation and small glass vial filled with a small amount of the actual mud from the race course that we will run through on May 31st! On top of all that Steve and his animals will come to you and present a private Misunderstand Wildlife animal show with live animals and a didgeridoo concert at your birthday party, school or other gathering!
*You can opt-out of having your personal/company information publicized on our shirts/websites if you choose.
An awesome mud covered photo from the end of the 2015
Mad Mountain Mud Run.
A great muddy moment from the 2013 Mud Run!
The nitty gritty muddy dirt of the sponsorship (rules)
After the Earthshine Nature Nerds/Trails Turbo Turtles team completes the race–all sponsored pledges will be collected from the sponsors by June 15th, 2013. Supporter awards will be awarded within 60 days following the race.
If the Earthshine Nature Nerds/Trails Turbo turtles does not complete the race–no donations will be collected unless you choose to support us despite the fact.
If the race is cancelled due to weather or other circumstances beyond our control you may choose to honor your sponsorship agreement or not. 100% of all donations will be used to provide direct support to our environmental science and wildlife rehabilitation/conservation projects and programs.
You may earmark your donations to the following projects:
Project A: Turtle Tracks Eastern Box Turtle radio telemetry project: currently radio tracking four wild Eastern box turtles at Earthshine Discovery Center and The Academy at Trails Carolina. Two of these turtles are part of the ongoing (since 2008) Turtle Tracks project at Earthshine Discovery Center in Lake Toxaway, NC. The other two turtles are part of a hands-on wildlife science class led by Steve for the Academy at Trails Carolina and Trails Wilderness students.
Project B: Snake Tracks – Ratsnake Tracks. A radio telemetry project tracking two large Black rat snakes at The Academy at Trails Carolina. This will be part of a hands-on citizen and student science class led by Steve for the Academy at Trails Carolina and Trails Wilderness students.
Projects A-B are most important wildlife science and conservation projects seeking to learn as much as possible about the natural movements of some of nature’s most misunderstood creatures. Data collected during these projects will directly benefit the greater understanding and conservation of not only box turtles and Rat snakes but all reptiles for many years to come. These projects also directly benefit the continuing hands-on education of middle and high school age youth–the future of all wildlife conservation.
Project C: Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation: ongoing support of our wildlife rescue and rehabilitation activities that works primarily with the Eastern box turtle and Opossum.
Project D: General program support. Examples include–animal care, habitat construction and project support: this covers all costs that are not directly part of or that cross over between all of the above listed programs. Example: radio telemetry equipment, foods, housing, vitamins, and medications for our resident and rehab animals, rechargeable batteries, camera equipment etc.
If you do not earmark your donation it will be used where it is most needed in one or more of the above programs.
You may sponsor us with either monetary pledges or supplies. If you would like to pledge supplies please contact us for a list of our current needs.
Below are some of our past sponsors and supporters
THANK YOU All!
No matter if you choose to support us or not, please do come out to Berkley Park and watch all of the mud runners get muddy and have fun for a couple of great causes–the education of children and conservation of wildlife and nature!
If you know anyone who may like to support ENP with a sponsorship or donation please forward this post on to them–THANK YOU!
After last year’s Mud Run we were all smiles–it was great fun!
NOTE: The Nature Nerds will video/photograph their perspective of the race using the latest technology including an HD GoPro camera and several volunteer friends with cameras stationed around the race course so that this years nerdy muddy experience will be able to be shared by all! A few weeks following the race look for the video to be posted here on the ENP Nature Blog!
Take a look at last years race video below!
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!
That’s all for now…I need to go train!
Steve O’Neil, ENP Executive Director and Mad Mountain Mud Runner
Earthshine Nature Programs is not responsible for or affiliated with ads that may appear below this line.
About a month ago I was contacted by a local man who had found a wild Eastern box turtle in his driveway. This turtle was very sick, its eyes were swollen shut, it had a nasty nasal discharge and it was very weak and thin–all the symptoms of the classic upper respiratory infection that box turtles are often afflicted with shortly after coming out of hibernation. I directed the man to take the turtle to my wildlife veterinarian, Dr. Coleman of Haywood Animal Hospital in Hendersonville, NC. He did so, Dr. Coleman expertly treated it, and I later picked it us for convalescence at the nature and science center. When I picked up the turtle I noted that it was light in weight and looked miserable. If you have ever had a bad sinus infection you will understand.
I isolated the turtle in a warm enclosure separate from all other education animals because there is always the chance that this turtle had a much more serious viral or bacterial infection that we would not want to inadvertently transmit to the other animals.
The students and I cared for the turtle for about a month, keeping it hydrated, giving it antibiotic injections, and finally feeding it loads of earthworms, vitamin enhanced canned cat food and fruit which it readily accepted.
On may 15th the turtle was fully recovered and went home with it’s rescuer to be released in its native habitat and as you can see in the photos they both look very happy and healthy.
Thank you sir for caring about wildlife and going above and beyond to help this turtle recover and get back to playing an active role in a healthy ecosystem.
Another wonderful wildlife rehabilitation success story!
If you find a sick or injured turtle, snake or Opossum and you are local to the Western North Carolina area, please do contact me and I will work with you to help the injured animal recover and get back into its native habitat as fast as possible. If you live far from Western NC and need help with an injured animal, please feel free to contact me for information, which I will be more than happy to provide, but for immediate care you will need to contact your local veterinarians as they often have lists of wildlife rehabilitation facilities that will be willing to help.
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What are Turtle Tracks and Snake Tracks?
Turtle Tracks and Snake Tracks are citizen/student science reptile conservation and research projects occurring at two separate study sites near Lake Toxaway and Dupont Forest in the mountains of western North Carolina, USA. Through the magic of modern technology and a lot of hard volunteer work by a wildlife conservationist and his small crew of students, and volunteers, glimpse into the lives of four wild Eastern box turtles, two Rat snakes and two Timber rattlesnakes in their natural habitats. For more detailed info on the project please take a look at our website: http://www.earthshinenature.com
It is our goal at Earthshine Nature Programs and Trails Science to promote wildlife conservation through our unique, exciting, citizen science based, hands-on education, out-reach programs, and online with our nature videos, blog and website and in our environmental education classes at Trails Momentum (previously Trails Academy) and Trails Carolina.
What is Earthshine Nature Programs?
Earthshine Nature Programs is a separate entity from Earthshine Discovery Center and Trails Carolina/Academy however, we work directly with these institutions of education to promote the conservation and respect of our native wildlife and wild places. It is our mission to educate you about these beautiful but greatly misunderstood animals and hopefully, to impart to you their beauty, uniqueness and intrinsic value to a healthy Earth, healthy wildlife and healthy humans.
Earthshine Nature Programs is a grass-roots, 501c3 non profit, volunteer operated and donation funded organization.
THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have donated to ENP over the years!! Without you, this important reptile conservation and public education work would not happen. If you would like to support Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate by visiting
You may also donate supplies such as animal foods, medical supplies, vitamins and habitat supplies just contact us for more information on what supplies we are in need of and how to donate.
Learn more about Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum and see if our unique programs may fit into your child’s education needs.
Music by The Steep Canyon Rangers used with written permission.
This is a late winter video report on the status of all the reptiles in the Turtle Tracks and Snake Tracks reptile conservation and education projects currently being conducted by Earthshine Nature Programs.
In the following video the students and I encounter the unexpected when we find Splinter the Rat snake out of his den basking in the late winter sunshine!
Wasn’t that amazing!!!
We are gearing up for a great year so please continue following in our Turtle and Snake Tracks by following this blog and better yet, consider a donation to Earthshine Nature Programs today – THANK YOU!
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THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
Thank you all for making the Snake Tracks and Turtle Tracks wildlife conservation projects possible. Thank you for continuing to support Earthshine Nature Programs over the last seven years. If the turtles and snakes could speak they would thank you even more than I because due to your support they will in turn be supported through the efforts of science being put to use in the areas of wildlife and habitat conservation. Thank you also to the land owners in the community where these animals live. Thank you for taking care of these highly misunderstood but yet oh so important parts of a healthy ecosystem.
The story continues…
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What is Rat snake Tracks?
Rat snake Tracks is a reptile conservation and research project occurring near Dupont Forest in the mountains of western North Carolina, USA. Through the magic of modern technology and allot of hard volunteer work by a wildlife conservationist and his small crew of volunteers and students, glimpse into the lives of two wild Ratsnakes in their natural habitats. For more detailed info on the project please take a look at our website at: http://www.earthshinenature.com
It is our goal at ENP to promote wildlife conservation through our unique, exciting, citizen science based, hands-on education, out-reach programs, and online with our nature videos, blog and website.
What is Earthshine Nature Programs?
Earthshine Nature Programs is a separate entity from Earthshine Discovery Center and is a 501c3 non profit. ENP is a 100% volunteer operated and donation funded organization. It is our mission to educate you about these beautiful but greatly misunderstood animals and hopefully, to impart to you their beauty, uniqueness and intrinsic value to a healthy Earth, healthy wildlife and healthy humans.
THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have donated to ENP over the years!! Without you this important reptile conservation and education work would not happen. If you would like to support Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate by visiting www.earthshinenature.com/donate
You may also donate supplies such as animal foods, medical supplies, vitamins and habitat supplies just contact us for more information on what supplies we are in need of and how to donate.
Music by The Steep Canyon Rangers used with written permission.
This is an overdue update on ENP’s newest reptile conservation and research project Snake Tracks: Ratsnake Tracks. This project is being conducted at The Academy at Trails Carolina by naturalist Steve O’Neil and his natural resource and conservation management and wilderness therapy students as part of Steve’s ongoing reptile focused wildlife conservation citizen science projects.
In Rat snake Tracks we follow in the tracks and trails of two wild adult male Rat snake’s known affectionately as Master Splinter and Apollo.
The first snake in the study is Splinter. We found him just outside the nature center in the fall of 2013. Shortly thereafter he was fitted with a radio transmitter, treated for internal parasites, fed lots of yummy mice, and then overwintered in the nature center to await his release in the spring.
In early May of 2014 Splinter was released and radio tracking commenced.
Over the summer Splinter spent most of his time in large, old Oak trees and in and around the buildings on campus. He frequented attics and crawlspaces of unused and used buildings as well as large, hollow habitat trees. We believe he is using these areas as foraging, thermoregulating and sheltering sites.
In mid summer, Steve and his students encountered another large, male Rat snake just outside the nature center. This snake was named Apollo in honor of the Apollo moon missions, and it was decided that this snake would join Splinter in a multi-year radio telemetry study of their natural movements in the forests surrounding the nature center.
A photo from the day we found Apollo
In late August Apollo was given a radio transmitter and later released at his capture location. View Apollo’s transmitter implantation and release in the video below.
If the video does not play try following this link to watch the video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjvVB5EmNdQ
Later in the summer we produced an extended length documentary video following both Splinter and Apollo over the remainder of their active seasons. In this video follow my students and I over several months as we search for and find the snakes high in Oak trees, on the ground, in buildings and bushes, and finally, in hibernation. Please view the video below for all the details of this fascinating new reptile conservation and citizen science project.
If the video does not play try following this link to watch the video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSoSTeEP3Yw
Where will Splinter and Apollo go next?
Follow this blog to stay up to date with the adventures of Master Splinter and Apollo the Rat snakes.
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THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
Thank you all for making the Snake Tracks and Turtle Tracks wildlife conservation projects possible. Thank you for continuing to support Earthshine Nature Programs over the last seven years. If the turtles and snakes could speak they would thank you even more than I because due to your support they will in turn be supported through the efforts of science being put to use in the areas of wildlife and habitat conservation. Thank you also to the land owners in the community where these animals live. Thank you for taking care of these highly misunderstood but yet oh so important parts of a healthy ecosystem.
The story continues…
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What is Rat snake Tracks?
Rat snake Tracks is a reptile conservation and research project occurring near Dupont Forest in the mountains of western North Carolina, USA. Through the magic of modern technology and allot of hard volunteer work by a wildlife conservationist and his small crew of volunteers and students, glimpse into the lives of two wild Ratsnakes in their natural habitats. For more detailed info on the project please take a look at our website at: http://www.earthshinenature.com
It is our goal at ENP to promote wildlife conservation through our unique, exciting, citizen science based, hands-on education, out-reach programs, and online with our nature videos, blog and website.
What is Earthshine Nature Programs?
Earthshine Nature Programs is a separate entity from Earthshine Discovery Center and is a 501c3 non profit. ENP is a 100% volunteer operated and donation funded organization. It is our mission to educate you about these beautiful but greatly misunderstood animals and hopefully, to impart to you their beauty, uniqueness and intrinsic value to a healthy Earth, healthy wildlife and healthy humans.
THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have donated to ENP over the years!! Without you this important reptile conservation and education work would not happen. If you would like to support Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate by visiting www.earthshinenature.com/donate
You may also donate supplies such as animal foods, medical supplies, vitamins and habitat supplies just contact us for more information on what supplies we are in need of and how to donate.
Music by The Steep Canyon Rangers used with written permission.
This field report covers a two month time span between early October and mid November 2014. In this report I locate all four reptiles currently being followed in the Turtle Tracks and Snake Tracks projects at our Earthshine study site, I replace the radio transmitter on Jimmy Irwin the male box turtle, locate Catherine and Jimmy nearing and then in their dens, find both rattlesnakes very close together and then later in their dens, listen to coyotes singing in the distance, install den cameras watching Utsanati, the male snakes’, den entrance in the hopes of getting video of him moving into his den and more.
Current Status: presently both turtles and both snakes are sleeping the winter away safely in their overwintering dens. In fact, they are all in the same overwintering locations they have used repeatedly over previous winters. Catherine and Jimmy the box turtles are only inches away from where they spent the last three winters in a row and they are both within the boundary of what I call their overwintering zones. These zones are areas contained within a 40 foot radius of the most frequently used overwintering locations.
The Timber rattlesnakes are also using overwintering sites they have repeatedly used in the past. Zoe, the female snake, overwintered on the other side of the ridge last year but this year has returned to the exact den site she had used over the winters of 2011-12 and 2012-13. Utsanati, the male snake, is in the same hibernation zone as in all years previous however, this year he is resting in a new underground location about 25 feet from the den entrance.
It is remarkable to me that these reptiles have the ability to zero in on these same small locations at the same time each year. The fact that these animals use these same locations each year without much variation also suggests that these habitat locations may be imperative to their very survival.
Although most animals do have differing levels of ability to adapt to changing habitat conditions, I believe that if important habitat sites such as these overwintering zones were to be destroyed or drastically altered, limiting or removing the ability of overwintering by these reptiles, that these animals may in fact adapt in the short run, especially if it was a warm winter. However, the stresses imposed on them to find and overwinter in a new location in subsequent years and over colder winters may lower their fat reserves, weaken their immune system, and possibly be highly detrimental to their very existence.
Many studies have shown that habitat disruption or alteration is beneficial in some ways for many species of wildlife. For example, with these turtle and snakes it seems that during their active months, and for the turtles the winter months, they frequent the edge habitat created by a wide power line access-way that cuts through the middle of all of their habitats. This forest opening provides many areas of dense cover for the reptiles to shelter in while resting or foraging. All four of the reptiles most frequented areas–including the box turtles overwintering locations–fall within or adjacent to the access way’s sunny openings which provide great thermoregulation opportunities as well as a greater biodiversity than the surrounding forests or fields. This edge habitat in turn supports many different species of plants and animals, many of which are excellent food sources for both the turtles and the snakes. However, even with the enhanced habitat and resulting good feeding, thermoregulation and overwintering opportunities provided by the edge effect created by the man made power-line access-way, it remains unclear what would happen to these reptiles should their overwintering zones be damaged or destroyed. In this case I believe the best option for protection and conservation of these reptiles and their habitat is the continued benign neglect of their habitats. In other words–leave these animals and their overwintering sites alone (except for some occasional non invasive status and population monitoring), and leave nature alone, and it will take care of itself and everyone will be happy.
As in the past I have produced a video documentary of my field work with these reptiles over the later part of 2014. It is a special extended length 2 part documentary of Turtle and Snake Tracks. Please join me as I follow the movements of the snakes and turtles as they move closer, and finally into, their winter dens over a two month span of time.
See the videos below for all the details.
Part 1
Part 2
If the videos will not play please try following the links below:
About the Turtle Tracks and Snake Tracks wildlife conservation projects.
The reptiles in this wildlife conservation education project are wild animals that live free in the remote forests and surrounding human maintained fields and subdivisions surrounding Earthshine Discovery Center in Lake Toxaway, NC.
The purpose of this study is to learn as much as possible about the natural movements and habitat usage of wild Timber rattlesnakes and Eastern box turtles that live wild yet in and around areas used and manipulated by humans. Results from this study will be used to help conserve and protect these species and their habitats from harm through better land use and management practices, via these Youtube documentaries and blog postings, and through outreach programming in the Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, and upstate South Carolina areas.
Through the magic of modern technology and many hours often taxing volunteer work by a wildlife conservationist and his small crew of volunteers and students, glimpse into the lives of wild reptiles in their natural habitats. For more detailed info on the project please take a look at the ENP website: http://www.earthshinenature.com
ENP is a 501c3 non profit wildlife conservation and outreach organization that operates as a separate entity from Earthshine Discovery Center. We do we pay ourselves to operate ENP or to conduct wildlife conservation activities. ENP is a 100% volunteer operated and donation funded organization. It is our mission to educate you about these beautiful and greatly misunderstood animals and hopefully, to impart to you their beauty, uniqueness and intrinsic value to a healthy Earth, healthy wildlife and healthy humans. Please contact us if you are interested in having Earthshine Nature Programs speak to your class, camp, group, festival, or special event.
THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have donated time, supplies, and funds, to ENP over the years!! Without you this important reptile conservation and education work would not happen. If you would like to support Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate by visiting
You may also donate supplies such as animal foods, medical supplies, reptile vitamins and habitat supplies just contact us for more information on what supplies we are in need of and how to donate.
Music by The Steep Canyon Rangers www.steepcanyon.com used with written permission.
ENP is not responsible for ads that may appear below this line.
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Turtle Tracks and Snake Tracks are two reptile conservation, research and education projects occurring near Earthshine Discovery Center and Dupont Forest in the mountains of western North Carolina, USA. Through the magic of modern technology and a lot of hard volunteer work by a wildlife conservationist and his small crew of volunteers, glimpse into the lives of several wild reptiles living in their natural habitats. For more detailed info on our projects and programs please take a look at our website: http://www.earthshinenature.com
It is our goal at ENP to promote wildlife conservation of our misunderstood wildlife through exciting hands-on education, outreach programs, conservation based field research programs, and online with our nature documentary video series.
We are not paid nor do we collect a salary to operate ENP or to conduct our wildlife conservation activities. ENP is a 100% volunteer operated program designed to educate you about these greatly misunderstood and amazing animals and hopefully, to impart to you, their beauty, uniqueness and intrinsic value to a healthy Earth and healthy humans.
THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have donated to ENP over the years!! Without all of you, our wildlife conservation and education mission would just not be possible – your support makes this important work happen. If you would like to support Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate by visiting http://www.earthshinenature.com/donate
This is a new update on ENP’s newest reptile conservation and research project Snake Tracks: Ratsnake Tracks. This project is being conducted at The Academy at Trails Carolina by Steve O’Neil and his natural resource and conservation management and wilderness therapy students as part of Steve’s ongoing reptile focused wildlife conservation citizen science projects.
In Snake Tracks: Splinter’s Tracks we follow in the tracks and trails of a wild adult Ratsnake known affectionately as Master Splinter. Splinter was found by Steve just outside the nature center in the fall of 2013. Shortly thereafter Splinter was fitted with a radio transmitter, treated for internal parasites, fed lots of mice and then overwintered in the nature center to await his release in the spring.
In early May Splinter was released and radio tracking has commenced.
Lately Splinter has been spending lots of time in and around the buildings on campus. He is frequenting attics crawlspaces of unused and used buildings as well as large, hollow habitat trees. I believe he is using these areas as foraging, thermoregulating and sheltering sites.
Watch the most recent field report videos from Splinter’s Tracks below.
Video Field Report Day 6: Today we found Splinter on the move and weighed him.
If the video does not play try following this link to watch the video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSJ3URiCo5w
Video Field Report Day 7 and 8: Today we find Splinter in the attic of an old cabin.
Video Field Report Day 9-12: Over these four tracking days we find Splinter moving between several buildings and a large den tree. This is a longer video than most but it is well worth the watch.
If the video does not play try following this link to watch the video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NfJz5ZQQJs
Where will Splinter go next?
Follow this blog to stay up to date with the adventures of Master Splinter the ratsnake.
THANK YOU ALL!
Thank you all for making the Snake Tracks and Turtle Tracks wildlife conservation projects possible. Thank you for continuing to support Earthshine Nature Programs over the last seven years. If the turtles and snakes could speak they would thank you even more than I because due to your support they will in turn be supported through the efforts of science being put to use in the areas of wildlife and habitat conservation. Thank you also to the land owners in the community where these turtles and snakes live. Thank you for taking care of these highly misunderstood but yet oh so important parts of a healthy ecosystem.
The story continues…
—————————————————————————
Turtle Tracks and Snake Tracks are two reptile conservation, research and education projects occurring near Earthshine Discovery Center and Dupont Forest in the mountains of western North Carolina, USA. Through the magic of modern technology and a lot of hard volunteer work by a wildlife conservationist and his small crew of volunteers, glimpse into the lives of several wild reptiles living in their natural habitats. For more detailed info on our projects and programs please take a look at our website: http://www.earthshinenature.com
It is our goal at ENP to promote wildlife conservation of our misunderstood wildlife through exciting hands-on education, outreach programs, conservation based field research programs, and online with our nature documentary video series.
We are not paid nor do we collect a salary to operate ENP or to conduct our wildlife conservation activities. ENP is a 100% volunteer operated program designed to educate you about these greatly misunderstood and amazing animals and hopefully, to impart to you, their beauty, uniqueness and intrinsic value to a healthy Earth and healthy humans.
THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have donated to ENP over the years!! Without all of you, our wildlife conservation and education mission would just not be possible – your support makes this important work happen. If you would like to support Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate by visiting http://www.earthshinenature.com/donate
Earthshine Nature 