Attending the 50th anniversary of the International Herpetological Symposium

Hey y’all! Kelly here, Lead Keeper in the Herpetology Department. At the end of July, through the generosity of a Sue Foster Keeper Professional Development Grant, I got the opportunity to attend the 50^th Anniversary of the International Herpetological Symposium (IHS) at the Chiricahua Desert Museum in Rodeo, New Mexico. This annual symposium brings together herpetologists from all areas of the field, from zoological animal care professionals and academics to conservationists and more. This year the focus was on the history of herpetoculture and HIS, from its roots as a social gathering to exchange stories and new ideas, to the more formal PowerPoint presentations of today. 

It was very interesting learning about some of the pioneers of herpetoculture (maintaining reptiles and amphibians in human care) who helped advance husbandry techniques and best practices we still use. Some even went on to become Zoo Curators like Raymond Ditmars at the Bronx Zoo. He grew up catching snakes as a kid. He went on to write many popular field guides, autobiographical books, and made silent nature films that are still revered today. He also played an integral part in establishing antivenom centers in the United States and Honduras (Wood, 1944). Or Grace Olive Wiley, who is credited with being the first person to breed rattlesnakes in human care (Time, 1933). She went on to become Curator of Reptiles at the Museum of Natural History at the Minneapolis Public Library, and later at the Brookfield Zoo, in the 1920s and 1930s, which was very unusual for that time period. She was also quite the character and believed she could tame and handle venomous snakes with her bare hands (Murphy and Jaques, 2005). Although I may not agree with how she did things, she certainly was a woman ahead of her time and part of our history. And whether it’s good or bad, history is how we learn and evolve our knowledge and practices. 

If you ask most herpetology keepers how they got into this field, it will probably sound very familiar to the story of Ditmars. They grew up catching snakes and frogs in their backyard and were simply fascinated by these amazing creatures. And no, free handling rattlesnakes is not a good idea, but what Wiley was doing was using behavioral observations to better understand her snakes and their body language. And today, behavioral observations are one of the foundations for our animal welfare and health assessments. So, no matter how we feel about history, we had to start somewhere. And over the years we’ve greatly improved our methods and shared them with a greater audience at meetings like IHS. But of course, the symposium wasn’t all just about history. There were many other talks on conservation and research projects, a lot of networking with colleagues, some field herping and birding, and, of course, night drives. 

All in all, this was a wonderful symposium, in one of the most beautiful, remote places I’ve ever been to. I learned so much from this trip and made a lot of great contacts along the way. And this experience also helped me to be more grateful for the hooks, tongs, tubes, and long-handled pooper scoopers we use today. 

Sources:

Murphy, James B.; Jacques, David E. (2005). “Grace Olive Wiley: Zoo Curator with Safety Issues”. Herpetological Review. 36 (4): 365 -367. 

“Snakelets“. Time Magazine. July 31, 1933.

Wood, Lauren N. (1944). “Raymond L. Ditmars: His Exciting Career with Reptiles, Animals and Insects”. Julian Messner, Inc.

Kelly G.
Lead Keeper, Herpetology