Madison Elementary students were treated to a live animal show with Nature Adventures co-hosts Todd Magnuson and Terri Lawrenz Friday (today).
Magnuson and Lawrenz host Nature Adventures on South Dakota Public Broadcasting System. The weekly show that airs on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. started as a pilot program that was filmed in 2005 and sent to SD PBS. It was originally called South Dakota Wildlife Adventures.
The show is now in its third season.
Magnuson said it’s something he wanted to do, but never imagined he would be doing. Their pilot show was about rattle snakes.
“It’s the first show they wanted to air that was independently made and make a series out of,” Magnuson said.
Not only does their show air weekly on SD PBS, but they also have on-line education modules and programs accessible on the Nature Adventures website. They’ve been bringing live programs to schools in South Dakota for three years as well, with the number of school visits increasing each year.
The popularity of their program has also increased. This past year, the program was nominated for an Emmy, and Public Broadcasting channels in Minnesota, North Dakota and Nebraska are now airing the program.
The crew for their program includes Magnuson and Lawrenz as well as Rutland native Tom Orton who is director of photography and Hartford native Jeff Canfield who is assistant producer.
Lawrenz said each show features something unique.
“It’s almost a real reality show,” Magnuson said.
Nature is so unpredictable, he said, that a show they set out to film about badgers may turn into a show about something completely different.
“We want kids to be excited to go outside,” Lawrenz said.
Magnuson said everything in nature has a story from the animals to rock formations. Their goal is to share some of the things they know.
Lawrenz admits she had a real phobia of snakes when she started the show three years ago. She said that phobia was the result of her mom’s phobia. She overcame her fear, she said, through education.
“I had to feel comfortable with the snakes,” she said. The first step was touching them and then holding them.
Elementary students got to see a Ball Python, Black Rat Snake, Bullsnake, Hog-Nosed Snake and King Snake.
They also saw examples of painted turtles, a Russian Tortoise, a Bearded Dragon and another soft-shelled turtle.
Students learned that a hog-nosed snake is venomous, but its venom is only harmful to its prey (a mouse or a toad), it isn’t harmful to humans. The hog-nosed snake also plays dead to fool a predator and will imitate not only a rattle snake but also a cobra.
Magnuson shared an interesting fact about painted turtles as well. Their eggs are laid in the fall, he said, freeze in the ground through the winter, and complete incubation in the spring when they hatch.
Local sponsors for the visit were Prostrollo’s All American Auto Mall, Lake County International, Stadium Sports Bar and Grill, Bulldog Media Group, Pizza Ranch and Nicky’s Restaurant.