As the city celebrated St. Patrick’s Day this year, Prairie Park Nature Center leaned into one of the holiday’s quirkier themes with its “Snakes and Scones” event.
Playing on the folktale that St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland in the fifth century, Dara Wilson, a snake handler and naturalist at the nature center, celebrated with an interactive session featuring snakes big and small.
About 50 people packed into the building for the chance to learn about corn snakes, boa constrictors, and more … all while snacking on home-baked British scones, offered in flavors such as lemon blueberry and almond maple. The Snakes and Scones event also featured face painting, crafts, and a leprechaun scavenger hunt for a Sylas & Maddy’s gift card.
Prairie Park Nature Center, located in southeast Lawrence, hosts other family-friendly events throughout the year. This community engagement is critical to its mission of preserving and educating people on its 100-acre property, which includes wetlands, woodlands, prairie habitats and a lake. Its education building is free to visit.
Learn more about the Prairie Park Nature Center on its website.
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Jordan Winter (she/her), a contributor to The Lawrence Times, is a 2019 KU grad with degrees in journalism and political science.
Check out her work at jrdnwntr.com. See more of her work for the Times here.
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
