Reptiles and amphibians were on the brain for people visiting the University of Findlay's Rieck Center this weekend.
The community was invited out to the center's spring open house, where this year they got the opportunity to learn all about the amphibious life in their nature preserve. The center wanted to highlight amphibians and reptiles because those animals tend to get a bad reputation compared to their furry counterparts.
"People have a negative connotation of amphibians and reptiles so we kind of want to, A, get rid of that and a lot of times amphibians and reptiles aren't documented in certain places," said Justin Rheubert, instructor of biology for the University of Findlay. "Birds seem to be the big thing at Rieck Center and habitat study places. Amphibians and reptiles don't get documented as often. We want to introduce humans and community members to amphibians and reptiles so that they can help us document what's here."
The center also educated people on a phone app called iNaturalist that they can use help the center track what wildlife is on their property, all by snapping a quick photo.
"The benefit for having it at the Rieck Center is we want to know what is specifically here," said Rheubert. "That allows us to develop conservation practices so that we can better manage the land."
The iNaturalist app is available to both Android and iPhone users.
