Larry Redding introduced Kara Ferraro from the Strawberry Hill Foundation.  You may recall that the Gettysburg Rotary Club provided a $1500 grant to the Strawberry Hill Foundation back in July for partial funding of a nature trail.  Kara announced Strawberry Hill’s Trailgating event this coming Saturday at 3:00 until 7:00 p.m.  The event will have live music, barbecued food, ice cream, drinks and several activities for children, including face painting, story telling, crafts and petting zoo. 

Kara introduced the Education Outreach Coordinator, Lizzy Ryan, who had brought animal ambassadors:  Strix a barred owl; Cornelius, a corn snake; and Bob, a box turtle.   Strix mainly stared at the audience and turned its head from one side to the other, taking us all in.  Libby indicated that it had been found along the road several years back and suffered a wing injury that does not allow it to be returned to the wild.  It can turn its head 270 degrees because its eyes are fixed in his skull and cannot rotate in their sockets.  It eats about 3 mice per day, fresh or frozen, and can live to be about 22 years old.    The sex of the owl is not known.

The second animal ambassador was Cornelius the corn snake.  Maryland is about as far north as it typically goes but this one didn’t know where the border was.  Much to our satisfaction, it stayed wrapped around Libby’s arm and seemed to be contented with just her arm.  She indicated that it eats about every 2 to 3 weeks.  The venomous snakes in this area of Pennsylvania are Copperheads and Timber Rattlesnakes but they are NOT normally aggressive and will tend to leave you alone if you leave them alone—note: tend!

The third animal ambassador was Bob, the box turtle who had only 3 legs.  Bob had been caught by a family and kept as a family pet, until they learned he could live to be 100 years old and they would need to include him in their will.  So, they asked Strawberry Hill to take him, and they did that about 7 years ago.  Bob is approximately 50 years old and they know it is a male because it has reddish or orange eyes.  Females have brown eyes.  Bob is picky about what he eats because he became accustomed to gourmet cat food and it’s been hard to get him to move to cherry tomatoes and crickets.  He does like sweet potato chunks that have been peeled and roasted but green lettuce is disgusting!   These turtles are becoming endangered because of developments and roadways.  If you see one on the road, have a heart and move it to the grass.  They typically live their lives within a 100 yard area. 

All in all, Strawberry Hill has 3 turtles, 3 snakes, and 1 owl.