Nature Blog

Remarkable Reptiles – A New Exhibit

By Chris Collier, Senior Director, Operations & Exhibits VINS new exhibit – Scales and Shells: Remarkable Reptiles – is in a new location (next to the Birds Are Dinosaurs exhibit in the Neale Pavilion), which provides our reptile ambassadors much larger, updated, bioactive enclosures. While most well-known for our avian ambassadors, VINS is currently home…

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VINS and iNaturalist

by Anna AutilioLead Environmental Educator Have you gotten into iNaturalist yet? At VINS, this citizen science project has become a favorite downtime activity for our staff. When someone spots a new wildflower blooming in the meadow, you can see at least a few of us up there with our phones out, taking pictures to document the sighting…

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Book Review: The Snake and the Salamander

by Sara Evangelos VINS Docent with Nicole Meyer, Environmental Educator The Snake and the Salamander: Reptiles and Amphibians from Maine to Virginia Alvin Breisch Illustrations by Matt Patterson Johns Hopkins University Press 2017    Let’s face it: Reptiles and amphibians aren’t at the top of most people’s favorite animals list. Often, says author Alvin Breisch,…

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