NEW HARMONY — The children gather in the corner of a room in the New Harmony Branch Library to stare through plastic containers at curious creatures. In one, a Mojave Desert tortoise crawls toward the edge, attempting to climb out unsuccessfully.
In the other, a black, red and white Sonoran mountain king snake rests as tiny fingers tap at the sides of its enclosure. Adults with wide smiles remind the children that their tapping could scare the animal.
They gathered Wednesday on a blue rug, with a sun in the middle and the alphabet in a rainbow pattern along the outside. Ammon Teare, the outreach coordinator at the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve reads “Life in the Slow Lane: A Desert Tortoise Tale.”
After the story, Teare shows his audience the reptiles, sharing facts about their habitat and behavior. The small tortoise is younger than 5 years old, he says, and takes out a large, empty shell of a much older, now dead, specimen to compare sizes.
Teare removes the small tortoise from its enclosure. With small hands and large eyes, the children pet its shell and feel his feet. Teare assures the attendees that its claws are not dangerous.
“They’re just mostly for moving dirt around,” he says.
The snake, whose name is Sierra, stays in its container.
Red Cliffs Desert Reserve Outreach
The Red Cliffs Desert Reserve conducts educational visits and outreach presentations to teach the public about the animals and plants within Southern Utah that they may not be as familiar with or afraid of, like the king snake, Teare said. They want people to know “what the positives are.”
“Some people might see a king snake and be really afraid of it and want to hurt it or chase it away,” he said. “In reality, they’re native to this area, and they have a lot of really helpful benefits including taking care of pests and keeping rattlesnakes away.”
Kingsnakes can live in higher-elevation environments and be found in areas such as the Pine Valley Mountains and Zion National Park.
They are not venomous but mimic coral snakes that “scare away” potential predators. Teare said there are no coral snakes in Utah, but if a person found themselves in a situation where they would need to tell the two apart, there is a rhyme they can reference.
“Red on yellow — deadly fellow,” he said. “Red on black — friend of Jack.”
The red and yellow bands on coral snakes will touch, whereas kingsnakes will have black stripes between them, Teare said
The reserve also wants the public to understand that tortoises are “an integral part” of Southern Utah’s natural environment, Teare said. And people can learn how to survive in the desert from the animal’s adaptations.
“And just making people care about the area that we live in and want to take care of it,” he said.
Teare said he hopes the presentation excites the children to learn about the world.
“Because if they carry that excitement with them as adults, then they’ll be curious and they want to learn more and they want to be engaged and maybe give back,” he said.
Susan Jenson, the children’s services librarian who is in charge of story time, said she appreciates anyone who is “willing to come in” while praising Teare’s work.
“I think it’s great for the kids to be introduced to these kinds of things at an early age,” she said.
Educational and outreach programs for schools and community groups that include live animals are provided by Washington County and Snow Canyon State Park for various age groups, according to the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve website.
For more information, contact the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve at 435-256-6312 or Snow Canyon State Park at 435-628-2255.
To learn more about the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, click here. To learn more about the New Harmony Branch Library, visit its location at 34 South 2900 East, New Harmony, or click here to view its website.
Photo Gallery
Children pet a Mojave Desert tortoise with Red Cliffs Desert Reserve Ammon Teare at the New Harmony Branch Library, New Harmony, Utah, Sept. 7, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News Children pet a Mojave Desert tortoise at the New Harmony Branch Library, New Harmony, Utah, Sept. 7, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News Red Cliffs Desert Reserve outreach coordinator, Ammon Teare reads a story at the New Harmony Branch Library, New Harmony, Utah, Sept. 7, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News A mountain kingsnake in an enclosure viewed by children at the New Harmony Branch Library, New Harmony, Utah, Sept. 7, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News A mountain kingsnake in an enclosure viewed by children at the New Harmony Branch Library, New Harmony, Utah, Sept. 7, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News
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