Nicholas School Earth Jam

On Tuesday, Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment held its annual Earth Jam in the Bryan Student Center, in conjunction with the annual Majors' fair, which was being held on the floor above it. There were many booths where you could eat bugs, crack open geodes, talk to turtles and talk to NSOE faculty and staff. I even got to finally introduce myself to Jeff Pippen, who has identified several species in my nature photos for me. At the booth for the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science I held a stick bug from Vietnam. Unfortunately, I was not able to convince myself to hold an African millipede, despite Google Earth Evangelist's telling me that she used to have a millepede as a pet. It's something I'll have to work on.

I did, however, have a nice visit with this cute box turtle. His shell was lumpy due to his having an improper diet when he was young. He was quite frisky, though, and was always trying to climb out of his box at every opportunity. He didn't have an official name, but it seems as if J'Kar would be appropriate. He and Kellog the Corn Snake (adorable) were representing the Piedmont Wildlife Center, in Durham, which is a rehabilitation center for injured wildlife. It looks as if it would be a fantastic place to volunteer, too.

At a booth for Snake Conservation Research, I met Pauline, a Northern Pine Snake. She was very friendly and warm from being handled so much that day. Her skin was much less smooth than Kellog's, whose skin was almost slick. Thanks to GEE for taking this photo.

Doesn't she have a loveable face? I'm afraid I'm really rather fond of snakes and turtles.