Rad reptiles: Snakes come alive at Petoskey preschool presentation

Karly Graham, The Petoskey News-Review
·2 min read
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PETOSKEY — Last week, parents and children alike left the classroom to see a “Snakes Alive” presentation at the Petoskey Children’s Nature Preschool.

Jim McGrath led the presentations, teaching the children about different snakes that you can see in Michigan. He brought a black rat snake, water snake and garter snakes.

Despite running a nature preserve based in Williamston, this was not McGrath’s first visit to the preschool.

He said he’s been visiting the area since 2009, with a few years away due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was originally invited to the after Jim and Kathy Bricker went to one of his presentations more than a decade ago. Since then, the Brickers’ set up presentations throughout Northern Michigan to help students get acquainted with the wildlife around Michigan.

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Throughout the event, children got to learn about the difference in size of snakes based on breed and sex, as well as that snakes you can find in Michigan and what they eat. For example, despite their name, black rat snakes do not eat rats, the students learned.

McGrath said that one of his favorite things about giving these presentations is watching people have a “180-attitude” about snakes. He said that getting people used to the snakes and making them feel comfortable enough to participate in the handing period at the end of the presentation is a huge non-monetary reward for him.

The idea to have McGrath come to northern Michigan was Kathy Bricker’s. After she died in May 2022, her husband Jim Bricker continued planning and organizing so as many students as possible could see the presentations.

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McGrath had a week planned in the fall, and now another in the spring.

While in northern Michigan, McGrath visited Petoskey, Cheboygan, Harbor Springs and more, visiting individual classes as well as libraries.

The presentations typically are aimed at fifth grade audiences but are adjusted and altered depending on the age of the groups he is working with. While he is often getting in front of students to share these presentations, McGrath said he also wants to have a presentation for all adults as well.

“Since this stuff is not generally in public scales, it is new to most of the adults,” he said. “I've had parents say to me, ‘I could not believe that I took my first grader to a presentation with a bunch of other first graders and how much I learned.’”

For more information on McGrath's presentations, visit NatureDiscovery.net.

— Contact education reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at@KarlyGrahamJRN.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Rad reptiles: Snakes come alive at Petoskey preschool presentation