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Conservation Adults
Nature Book Club
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LOCATION & SCHEDULE
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Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
11715 Cragwold Rd
Kirkwood, MO 63122
(314) 301-1500
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Additional Information: Instructed by:
This program is hosted by the Webster Groves Nature Study Society Nature Book Group. The book that will be covered this month is The Modern Bestiary: A Curated Collection of Wondrous Wildlife, by Joanna Bagniewska. Medieval bestiaries mixed natural histories with fantasy and ethics describing animals. If the authors did not know much about an animal they filled in the pages with their imagination, just as the mapmakers of the time added mermaids and sea monsters to their maps. We know so much more about animals today that we do not need to fantasize them. My favorite 2 Missouri unusual animals, which are not in the book, are the hog-nose snake and the short-tailed shrew. The hog-nose snake when threatened flares out its hood, like a cobra, and moves its tail over the dead leaves on the ground to sound like a rattle snake. If these do not work, it rolls over, belly up and plays dead. If you flip it over, it flips belly up again. The short-tailed shrew is America's only venomous mammal with venomous saliva. Neither of these animals is in the book, but come to discuss your favorite weird animals, whether they are in the book or not. Age 15 and above. Scott Sarantakis
Cancellation Policies:

You must cancel your registration before Tuesday, August 12, 2025.
Age Policy:

All registrants for this event must be a minimum age of 15 years old by 8/12/2025.