The Buzz Tale

What's the Buzz?

Welcome to the spring 2021 issue of The Buzz Tale—The Rattlesnake Conservancy’s official quarterly newsletter. We are a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the protection of rattlesnakes, and their habitat, through research and education. In this newsletter you’ll find important updates on our organization, upcoming events, announcements, and recaps of some of our favorite moments from the last few months!

If you’d like to get involved with The Rattlesnake Conservancy and support the work that we’ve been doing be sure to check us out on social media and find us online at savethebuzztails.org where you can volunteer, make a donation, purchase an item from our shop, sign up for a training course, adopt a rattlesnake, become a sustaining member, or just drop us a message to let us know your thoughts!

We are working hard to organize our fifth annual "Get Buzzed for Buzztails" event! The event will take place on Saturday, May 15th at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Florida. It will bring in attendees from throughout the United States who are highly passionate about the outdoors, the environment, education, and of course - wildlife conservation! This year we are excited to get offline and connect again in person for an exciting evening of local beer, wine, great food, and vendors with added measures to keep everyone safe. The event will be outdoors where social distancing is convenient, require masks in areas where social distancing isn’t possible, and event activities will be spread out to prevent congregation in one area. You can buy tickets to the event here!

Proceeds from Get Buzzed for Buzztails will go towards The Rattlesnake Conservancy's projects focused on opening our public facility, imperiled rattlesnakes, youth education, community outreach, first responder training grants, scientific research, and land management! Last year we were able to raise over $10,000 towards these goals and as a result had the opportunity to fund international research in Brazil to conserve South American Rattlesnakes, provide venomous handling training grants throughout the United States for first responders, and begin work on our public facility and classroom space. This year, we plan to continue the tradition with even bigger goals, and bigger outcomes! We hope you will join us!

Even if you can't make it in person, be sure to join us on Facebook Live every Friday at 8pm EST leading up to the event, where we host rattlesnake trivia and give away prizes! You can also bid directly on items in the Get Buzzed for Buzztails Charity Auction Facebook Group!

We are so thrilled to team up with so many amazing organizations, businesses, and community leaders whose partnerships and donations make this event possible!

Wild Florida

Wild Things Exotic Animals

Goatsby’s Place

Lake & Wetland North Florida

Greenshades Software

Bone Clones, Inc

Ancient City Brewing

Announcements

Public Facility – Our team has had a busy quarter getting ready to open our public facility! We have had a few set backs while awaiting custom enclosures, but we now have everything to put together the display and are on track! If you are interested in helping with needed supplies around our facility, please check out our Amazon Wishlist!

Goodbye, Paula! – We want to give a heartfelt thank you to Paula Crews for serving as a board member from 2018 to 2020! Paula was instrumental in helping our organization grow these last 2 years. Her wonderful attitude, network connections, and business aptitude contributed significantly to our mission.

Welcome, Stephen! – Join us in welcoming our newest board member, Stephen Prior! Stephen is a digital marketing expert and reptile enthusiast. He has helped grow companies rapidly through his expertise. He is also involved with several wildlife preservation organizations and is a graduate of our venomous training programs, where he first garnered interest in joining our team. Stephen joined the board to help grow the organization and promote our mission.

Congrats, Tiffany! – Join us in congratulating Tiffany Bright, our SE Regional Director, who completed an EMT program! Having an EMT on staff during venomous training programs, summer camps, and education programs is an invaluable resource to our team!

Rattlesnake Defense Fund

This quarter we announced the creation of the Rattlesnake Defense Fund, which was established for litigation fees, attorneys fees, and lobbying legislatures to establish bag limits, ban gassing, and stop rattlesnake roundups. Thanks to support from around the globe, the fund has raised over $6,000 and we have retained legal counsel to begin this fight. We have a long road ahead of us and need all the help we can get! Learn more about the RDF here!

Upcoming Events

Congratulations to all the recent

Introductory Relocator and Level 1 graduates of our Venomous Handling Certification Training! These courses set the standard for safety, husbandry, and protocol for working with venomous reptiles. Our graduates go into the workforce and their communities with a mindset that prepares them to handle potentially dangerous situations confidently and safely.

We are looking forward to the following upcoming classes:

May 15: Get Buzzed for Buzztails @ the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in FL
May 22 & 23: Level 2 @ Tree Hill Nature Center in Jacksonville, FL
June 9 & 10: Level 1 @ Tree Hill Nature Center in Jacksonville, FL
June 25: Introductory Relocator Course @ Tree Hill Nature Center in Jacksonville, FL
June 26 & 27: Level 1 by Save the Snakes in Mather, CA

Conservation Camp

Conservation Camp is a unique way for kids to get first hand experience of what a week in the shoes of a wildlife biologist is like. At camp, students will learn real life applications of wildlife sciences, meet animal ambassadors, and have a blast working with other students that love the outdoors. Camp is filling up quickly, with only a few spots left in each week, so be sure to sign up soon! Our team of dedicated scientists and counselors are committed to giving your child a memorable and safe experience. Our counselors are experienced working with children from all age groups and are thrilled to guide your young scientist on a journey to learn about the ecosystems of Florida, native plants and animals, and how they can be involved in conservation of wildlife and their habitat.

Working Group Meetings

This Quarter our team hosted meetings for our two working groups, the Montane Rattlesnake Working Group and the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Working Group. These groups will connect collaborators from our team, universities. institutions, organizations, researchers, and other individuals to discuss the conservation status of rattlesnake species and to develop informed conservation action plans. These groups will meet monthly to quarterly and are open to other professionals who believe they can help identify data gaps that exist in current research and inform the action plans. These meetings have been attended by representatives from The Rattlesnake Conservancy, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Jekyll Island Conservation Authority, Rattlesnake Solutions, The University of Arizona, Southwestern Ecological Research Company, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Gulf Coast University, The Jones Center, University of Arizona, Mesa Community College, and more.

If you are a researcher our educator interested in participating in one of these working groups or leading one in your area, please reach out to Tony Daly-Crews at director@savethebuzztails.org.

Website and Social Media

If you haven't been on our website recently, be sure to check it out! We gave the website an overhaul and added a bunch of new swag to our store!

Be sure to follow us on social media for exciting weekly series posts, distance learning opportunities, event updates, and more!

Website Blog — Follow our blog for a new series called Conservation Pulse - an exciting glimpse into some conservation efforts from around the globe! You can follow along at savethebuzztails.org/articles