education

[newtots]

i was wondering if there are ways to educate others about spiders and tarantulas??? apparently everyone in the area(although most are "fearless" cowboys) are under the impression that spiders are evil creatures and would sooner bite you than look at you. i've had 5 people in the last week alone tell me that my harmless euathlus sp red and my Brachypelma albopilosum are highly poisonous and pose a danger to myself and kids... both of which i know for a fact are completely untrue. do you need a licence or special training to go in to schools and such to educate others about the spiders???

 

[spidey noob]

not shure to be honest depends where u are, in the uk u dont need them !!!

 

[newtots]

i live in alberta canada. there are no stores in the area that sell t's and there are no education centers for them that i know of

 

[DVirginiana]

There are probably some short information pamphlets that you could print out and have on hand pretty easily. Not sure where you'd find them or if you'd have to make your own, but I know of a guy who has a similar initiative for snapping turtles and other misunderstood animals.

 

[MatthewM1]

No license required that I know of, but that could vary state to state. I've brought inverts to work with me on a few occasions to show to my coworkers and clients. I've been asked to come to preschool my gf's sister works at but declined b/c at the time my not so pleasant downstairs neighbors kids were in the class and she had no idea what kind of critters I had and I didn't want to give her something else to complain about.

Best you can do is politely correct people. Educate the willing and just brush off the haters.

 

[spidey noob]

why dont u contact some schools & see if there intrested in what your offering to do,
there is a guy not far from me that does a similar thing to what your sugesting he visits schools / childrens partys / local events.

 

[DVirginiana]

I know some people who do educational stuff; if you don't need a license for the animal, you don't need a license to bring it to educational shows.

 

[TheJuicyFruit]

why dont u contact some schools & see if there intrested in what your offering to do,
there is a guy not far from me that does a similar thing to what your sugesting he visits schools / childrens partys / local events.

There's a reptile store closish to my house that does this, 'cept they charge a buttload. They bring a bit of everything, let the kids interact with the specimens, (Where appropriate) and educate them about these animals. I think it'd be great if you could do something like this in your area.