YMCA to host presentation on snakes

Van Wert independent/YMCA information

The Van Wert YMCA Camp Clay Nature Committee will be hosting “Venomous Snakes of Ohio” presentation on Sunday, July 17, from 2-3:30 p.m.  This presentation is free of charge and open to the public and will be held in the Camp Clay Nature Center off of Liberty Union Road.  Guest speaker Doug Wynn will be the presenter.

Wynn is a retired high school ecology teacher. As a result of his fourth grade teacher, he has a special interest in snakes and has been studying them since his undergraduate years. He is especially interested in Ohio’s endangered snakes and has received over 100 grants and contracts.

The Ohio Division of Parks presented Wynn with its Naturalist Award in 1994, the same year he and fellow teachers developed a research class that focused on implementing species survival plans for endangered Ohio snakes.

The students in that program worked with many of Wynn’s projects and have made significant contributions to our knowledge of Ohio reptiles. The Ohio Division of Wildlife presented them with a special award in 2000.

In 2006, Wynn and Scott Moody authored the Ohio Turtle, Lizard, and Snake Atlas.  In 2008, he received a visiting scholar appointment from The Ohio State University and also received the Ohio Biological Survey’s 2010 Naturalist Award and Ohio Division of Wildlife’s 2011 Conservationist Award.

Wynn is now presently co-authoring and editing a book on the turtles, lizards, and snakes of Ohio that is being funded by the Ohio Division of Wildlife and will be published by the Ohio Biological Survey Inc.  His work in the field continues to focus on timber rattlesnakes, Plains garter snakes, and Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes.

Information about this and other programs available at the Van Wert YMCA Camp Clay Center can be found by calling 419.238.0443 or visiting www.vwymca.org.

The YMCA of Van Wert County is partially funded by The Van Wert County Foundation and United Way of Van Wert County.