Connecting to the Cold-blooded: Impacts of Educational Messaging on Audience Attitudes Towards Rattlesnakes

Abstract

As some of the most feared and misunderstood animals in North America, rattlesnakes are threatened by human persecution. Zoos, wildlife managers, and other conservation organizations seek to increase public acceptance of rattlesnakes through educational programming. This thesis addresses two key questions: 1) What is the effect of a rattlesnake exhibit on the attitudes of zoo guests, and 2) What is the effect of social complexity messaging on student attitudes towards rattlesnakes. I formulated a survey to quantify attitudes towards rattlesnakes using a seven-point Likert scale and administered it to visitors before and after walking through the Desert Dome of Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. The same survey was given to zoology students at the University of Minnesota before and after learning about rattlesnake social complexity during a reptile diversity lab. I measured the impacts of the two learning environments using a two-tailed t-test to compare the incoming and outgoing attitudes of participants. No statistically significant changes in attitudes towards rattlesnakes were detected in guests after viewing the Desert Dome exhibits. Zoology students reported a significantly more positive view towards rattlesnakes after learning about rattlesnake social complexity, including increased utilitarian and ecologistic attitudes. Whereas public education programs have historically cited the ecological and biomedical contributions of rattlesnakes, this study suggests that the emerging field of reptile sociality has the potential to humanize rattlesnakes and increase audience acceptance of them.