Another Successful Working with Wildlife course!!!

The Working with Wildlife team have just returned from Queensland where they conducted a 2 day Catch & Relocate Venomous Snakes - Remote Regions course for North Goonyella Coal Mine.

Check out the feedback!! - 

Good Afternoon,

A big thank you must go out to you and your people. I have asked most people that attended the course last week and they have nothing but praise for you.

“Awesome”

“Amazing”

“Best ever”

Makes me want to attend myself. When they speak of the day they are animated and I can see they enjoyed themselves immensely. Thank you.

Regards

Caroline Miles

Training Administrator

North Goonyella Coal Mine

Peabody Energy Australia

It is fantastic to receive feedback like this - the goal of Working with Wildlife courses is to make the work environment a safer place by teaching people about snakes and their behaviour when they come into contact with people, but it is just that little more satisfying when people thoroughly enjoy what is being shown to them - shouldn't that be the purpose of any training course that you send your staff to - educational and enjoyable?

Is it worth considering a Working with Wildlife training course for your staff?

Check Out The Online Snake Awareness Course Now!!!

Readers of this blog that are interested in the Working with Wildlife Online Snake Awareness Course will be pleased to know that there have been a number of enhancements made to the course after feedback we have received from participants.

Among other things, you now get two chances to successfully complete the course!!! We added this functionality because there is so much information available through the course that it may take a couple of runs through it to absorb all the information it provides.

Give it a try - it is a fantastic course if you want to learn about snakes and their behaviour when they come into contact with people - we are sure that you will thoroughly enjoy it and have a much better understanding of snakes and their behaviour once you have completed it.

Looking For A Unique Christmas Present - Here It Is!!!

Just over a week to go before Christmas - are you still looking for a present to give a friend or relative that you can guarantee no-one else will give them?

What about the Working with Wildlife Snakes & Us - A Sensible Perspective e-Book?

If you, or people you know, live or holiday in areas where there is a chance that you could come into contact with a snake, the e-Book is the perfect gift to provide suggestions on how to reduce the chances of being bitten.

The book provides information on snakes, their actions when they come into contact with people and things that you can do to make your home, or holiday destination, less "snake friendly".

There is also Snake Bite First Aid instructions that come with the book - print these off and keep them in your car while you travel in the unlikely event that you, or someone you know, gets bitten, as these instructions contain the most up to date snake bite first aid techniques available.

Buying the book is easy - simply pay online and shortly after you will receive a link to download your copy as a PDF - that's it!!!

If you are buying the book as a gift, simply forward the download email to the person you are giving the gift to on Christmas Day with an e-Card!!!

Save it to your laptop, computer, e-reader, or anywhere else where you can read PDF documents and enjoy the contents.

Buying the Working with Wildlife e-Book just got easier!!!

People familiar with Working with Wildlife training resources will be aware of our e-Book - Snakes & Us - A Sensible Perspective.

We have been receiving feedback from customers asking if the e-Book could be more easily accessed as it tends to get "lost" amongst all the other equipment we have for sale in our shop.

We listened - the e-Book now has its own webpage where you can purchase it with as few as two clicks!!!!

If you have attended one of our awareness sessions and would like something to use as a "ready reference" for the information provided at these sessions, then our e-Book is the perfect choice.

Even if you haven't attended one of our awareness sessions or training courses and you're just curious about the information Working with Wildlife provides when presenting, our e-Book will give you a very good idea about what you will learn from our training.

We hope you enjoy the book and look forward to any feedback or questions you might have after reading it.

The Online Training Course Access Just Got Easier!!!

Long time readers of this blog are aware of our Online Snake Awareness Course where you can learn about snakes, their behaviour when they come into contact with people and things you can do to reduce the chances of being bitten by one through the courses we have available on the Net.

We have received feedback that getting access to the course is a bit of a hassle - emails and logins going back and forth to enrol when people just wanted to buy it and start the modules.

We're listening - you can now buy the online course direct from our webpage!!!!

Simply click the Buy Now button and complete the purchase via PayPal or by using your debit or credit card.

Once payment has been received your login details will be emailed to you and off you go!!!

If you run a business, there is a link under the Buy Now button to generate an email enquiry to us - you can pay full price for the course directly from the website if you like, but bulk enrolment discounts apply, so isn't it worth asking if you are eligible for a discount when you have numerous people that you need to enrol?

Thanks go out again to the team at Lumient - once again they listened to our requirements and provided us with a solution quickly and professionally.

To all those people who have asked for quicker access to course enrolment, there you are - and good luck with the course!!!!

Quality Online Snake Awareness Training Has Arrived!!!!

Long time followers of this blog and people who have checked out the Working with Wildlife website in the past would know that for some time now we have been working on a project to get the content of our snake awareness sessions online so that people who are unable to attend our snake awareness sessions in person can still learn about snakes and snake behaviour by training via the Net.

We are very excited to announce that the Working with Wildlife Online Snake Awareness Course has now been launched!!!!

A HUGE thank you must go out to Paul Coldrey and the team at Lumient who have created the course for us - to say there have been "issues" with the software development of this course is an understatement, but once we started using the services of Lumient the whole process went smoothly, on time and on budget - if you need any customised software development to improve your business give Lumient a call - you'll be most impressed.

There is still a small way to go before access to the online course is totally automated, but you can sign up for the course now simply by registering your interest via our website.

If you think you, your employees, or anyone you know, would benefit from knowing about how snakes react when they come into contact with people and actions you can take to reduce the chances of being bitten by one, contact us and we will be happy to provide you with further details.

Another Successful Presentation

With the weather starting to warm up again there has been an increase in snake sightings throughout Australia and the need for snake handling and awareness training is again on the increase.

The Working with Wildlife team has recently completed another successful 3 day Catch & Relocate Venomous Snakes course, this time with staff from Parks, Conservation and Lands in the A.C.T.

The Canberra Times did an article whilst we were up there, where Parks A.C.T. staff and Julian Craig from Working with Wildlife were interviewed on the subject of snakes, things you can do to discourage snakes from coming onto your property and ways to reduce the chances of being bitten by a snake if you happen to come into contact with one - have a read of the article via this link.

Thank you to all the staff at Parks A.C.T. - it is always a pleasure conducting courses for people who are keen to learn correct snake handling and relocation techniques.

For anyone who may come into contact with snakes now that the weather is beginning to warm up, please take a moment to have a look at the Working with Wildlife website - with the various handling courses, awareness sessions and equipment we have available, you will find everything you need to be better prepared for an increase in snakes in your area.

It's Starting To Warm Up Again!!!

I have just been reading this article where a 17 year old appears to have been bitten by a brown snake while walking in bushland.

The weather is starting to warm up again, so now is a good time to remind everyone about the services that Working with Wildlife can provide.

Whether it be "in person" training and awareness sessions, catching and first aid equipment, or something as simple as an e-Book, or online training course to get a better understanding of snakes and their behaviour, it is worth considering having a look at the Working with Wildlife website to see what we have to offer.

Remember, it has been a relatively wet winter throughout Australia this year, so there is more undergrowth around and as the weather warms up, this means there are more places for snakes to hide.

If nothing else, make sure you download a Snake Bite First Aid Instruction Sheet to keep in your car - hopefully you will never have to use it, but it is handy to know that it is in the glovebox just in case you, or someone you know, is unfortunate enough to be bitten by a snake.

Check Out The USA e-Book!!!

Long time readers of this blog would be aware that Working with Wildlife also has a website to learn about snakes of the USA - if you have never had a look at it, click here - there is a heap of information that makes for fascinating reading.

After many hours of work, the Snakes & Us In The USA - A Sensible Perspective e-Book has been completed and is now available.

If you are interested in snakes from other parts of the world (for all you readers outside the USA), if you intend to travel to the USA (as an example, the Australian Dollar is very strong against the U.S. Dollar at the moment - it might just be the right time to visit the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty and all the other wonderful sights of America), or you are simply looking for a fascinating read on an animal that is greatly misunderstood, then this e-Book is well worth a read.

We look forward to hearing your feedback on the book - and don't forget our Australian e-Book - it might be worth getting both just to compare the differences.

It Is Great To Hear Positive Feedback

Working with Wildlife recently received an email from a course attendee that we would like to share with you -

"I have completed a few courses since I did yours last year and I must say keep up the good work. By far the course you offered was far more thorough and had a far better safety focus on it (may be because industry courses have a higher safety aspect to the course??). Most other courses have been given with an implied knowledge of snakes which can, in some cases, be a disadvantage."

It is great to get this type of feedback because safety (of both the attendees and the reptiles) play a huge part in all of Working with Wildlife's training courses and awareness sessions.

Check out our website, see the courses we have on offer and consider doing our Online Snake Awareness course, or perhaps have a read our e-Book - we are confident that you will gain a much better understanding of snakes and their behaviour after doing so.

Remember, you can always contact us if there is any aspect of snakes and snake awareness that interests you - we are always happy to discuss any aspect of this subject with anyone interested in the topic.

Another Successful Working With Venomous Snakes Course

Balanced with Wildlife staff are back from another successful 3 day Working with Venomous Snakes course, this time for Rio Tinto in Tom Price, Western Australia.

The feedback from the course ranged from -

Brilliant, simply brilliant! Delivered by very professional trainers. This is the second course I have completed and by far the best. I was slightly apprehensive at the start but my fears were soon put to rest very quickly. The guys were brilliant, concise and friendly, very approachable and ran the course professionally. Thank you. Cheers.

to -

Graphics/slides could be bigger. Add basic catching tools into the price of the course. Overall very good. I learnt a heap. Very informative on identification and handling skills. Cheers!

We would like to thank all participants for their feedback - our trainers are currently reviewing our graphics/slides to see if they can be improved in any way and we have already been in contact with all participants and a large number of them have already ordered our catching kit packages.

Thanks go out to the staff at Rio Tinto Tom Price - our presenters commented on how well they were looked after whilst there and how receptive all participants were on the course.

Another Successful Snake Awareness Session

Balanced with Wildlife presented a 4 hour Snake Awareness Session to staff at the District Council of Mallala today and it was a resounding success!! Julian Craig was the presenter at the session and the feedback is already back on how good the presentation was.

One attendee writes -

"Riveting experience. Julian was the best and most interesting course instructor we have had in the last 10 years. The subject was very pertinent to our rural area with snakes an issue we have to deal with in our everyday lives. SENSATIONAL! Thank you"

Just to prove that we are being impartial, here is the "worst" comment we received (and there were over 20 feedback forms received) -

"Top course. Not boring and learnt a lot. Very interesting"!!!!

Well done Julian - if the comment above is the "worst" we ever get, then we have nothing to worry about!!

Just another example of the level of professionalism you receive when Balanced with Wildlife conducts a course for you - if there is a chance that your staff could ever come into contact with a snake in their workplace contact us and we will be happy to provide you with training or awareness sessions that are second to none.

The Tragedy In Pakistan

I am just reading this article from Pakistan with a very heavy heart - it discusses the increase in deaths by snake bite to children in Pakistan due of the unavailability of antivenin because of the current floods.

This issue is very close to the hearts of Directors of Balanced with Wildlife because a close friend of ours, now living in Australia but originally from Pakistan, has family still living there who are currently raising donations to help the Pakistani people in the flood ravaged areas - fortunately our friend's family's region was not affected by the floods.

Our thoughts go out to the Pakistani people affected by these floods and we hope that as much antivenin as you require to save the children and anyone else bitten by a snake is not far away.

Another Brilliant Presentation

Julian Craig from Balanced with Wildlife conducted another brilliant 4 hour Snake Awareness Session yesterday, this time for the Adelaide Hills Council.

Here's some feedback that has already been received on the session -

"Julian -- Excellent snake awareness course this morning at Heathfield Depot, much appreciated.

I would be grateful if you would send me the details of the Norton Summit meeting you mentioned, to be held on Sept 21.

Cheers

Brian"

and here is Julian's response -

"Hi Brian

Thanks for the feedback.

The session I spoke to you about is a Community Snake Awareness Session being held at the Norton Summit Natural Resource Centre, 1 Crescent Drive, Norton Summit (easterly, across the road from the Norton Summit Hotel).

Date is 21st of September 2010 and it starts at 7pm and will go until about 9.30pm.

All are welcome.

Contact Val Hunt on 8390 1891 for more info"

If you live in Adelaide and are interested in this subject, give Val Hunt at the Norton Summit Natural Resource Centre a call to attend the session on the 21st of September - it will give you a fascinating insight into these largely misunderstood creatures.

Check Out Living with Wildlife USA!!!!

After a heap of work and many - MANY - long hours, Living with Wildlife has finally launched it's USA website!!!

Check it out - there is a heap of information on snakes of the United States and a snake bite first aid sheet specific to the region can be downloaded free of charge.

An e-Book is soon to be released and you can even do an Online Snake Awareness course specific to snakes of the region.

While the e-Book is in the process of being published, you can buy the Online Snake Awareness course for a 60% reduction in price - you even get a Certificate of Completion at the end of it, so it is well worth considering doing the course before the price goes up if you have an interest in this subject and want to learn more about the behaviour of snakes from the USA.

Snake Bite Increase in India

I have just been reading this article from India which highlights the increase in snake bite deaths when monsoons cause floods that destroy the snake's natural habitat.

There are interesting comments by a college Head of Zoology and it is well worth a read if you are interested in this topic.

Graphic Examples From Cambodia

Later this year Living with Wildlife is hoping to receive funding so that presenters will be able to travel to Cambodia to teach people how to greatly reduce the chance of being bitten by snakes.

I have just been looking at some graphic examples of what snake bite has done to Cambodian victims (the examples are not pleasant, but have a look at them here, here and here.

If these types of injuries are to be reduced it is imperative that the Cambodian people be given the opportunity to receive the type of training that Living with Wildlife can offer.

Fingers crossed we receive the funding.

More Than Just Snakes To Worry About

I have just been reading this article from New Zealand about a marathon runner who took part in the Gobi Desert ultra-marathon in China.

The threat of snake bite was only one of many dangers these runners faced - you have to be a special type of person to even consider attempting something like this!!!

Another Successful Presentation

Julian Craig from Living with Wildlife conducted another successful presentation yesterday, this time for the students and staff at the Elizabeth Downs Primary School.

We received some wonderful feedback on the presentation that we would like to share -

"Thank you so much for coming to our school yesterday. The children just loved it and we (the staff) couldn't believe how well behaved they were.

Their attention span is usually very short and to listen for over an hour is quite an achievement!

Julian - I thought you were engaging and enthusiastic and pitched it just at the right level.

The staff were impressed with the questions that their children asked and all in all it was a great success.

Thank you again."

The most satisfying aspect of these presentations is that it gives Living with Wildlife the opportunity to teach children the truth about snakes and their behaviour and we hope that through this education the stigma associated with these fascinating creatures will be taken away.

Thanks go out to Elizabeth Downs Primary School for allowing us to present to their students and staff and if there are any other schools or youth groups interested in learning more about this fascinating topic just contact us and we will be happy to arrange a presentation.