ELGIN – Slither on in to learn the good, bad and the ugly about some of the snakes in the area as Elgin Community Library hosts its third annual snake safety seminar.
Last year approximately 30 people attended class, only a handful fewer than the year before, said Library Director Leslie Durham.
Originally scheduled for 6 p.m., Tuesday, May 17, the snake identification and safety class has been postponed until 6 p.m., Tuesday, May 24, Durham said. The class, instructed by Nathan Mackey of Snakes on the Plains Photography, is suitable for people of all ages.
“He’s kind of a local expert on snakes,” Durham said of Mackey. “He’s studied them for years, knows where they nest, how to find them, and how to identify them.”
“On his days off,” Mackey, who is an officer with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, “travels all over Oklahoma and parts of Texas and goes snake hunting,” Durham said.
Both new and lifelong residents alike can get valuable lifesaving information from the seminar. “With so many new people moving into the Elgin area, it is helpful to show them how to identify the snakes both venomous versus nonvenomous. And [Mackey] tries to take some of the fear factor out.”
As an avid hiker who loves the outdoors, Durham appreciates the snake identification class. “You can look at a snake and think, ‘Oh, that’s that kind of snake,’ and it’s really not. He points out different ways to identify them more accurately.”
While Mackey has brought snakes with him in the past, it is uncertain whether he will this time.
“If he finds snakes a day or two before the presentation, he’ll catch them, bring them to the presentation, take them back to where he caught them and release them.”
For more details visit Elgin Community Library, 108 Thoma, or call (580) 492-6650.