{"id":63169,"date":"2021-06-02T15:33:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T19:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/?post_type=news&p=63169"},"modified":"2021-06-02T15:33:06","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T19:33:06","slug":"museum-herpetologist-jeff-beane-contributes-to-the-kauffeld-letters","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/news\/museum-herpetologist-jeff-beane-contributes-to-the-kauffeld-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"Museum herpetologist Jeff Beane contributes to \u2018The Kauffeld Letters\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BlackBlack Racer (Coluber constrictor<\/em>). Photo: Jeff Beane.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff Beane embraces science communication almost as readily as he grasps wild snakes. A recent book authored by his good friend and former Virginia State Park Ranger Gary Williamson allowed Beane\u2019s varied interests to truly take hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Kauffeld Letters\u201d is told through the eyes of a curious and ambitious young man (Williamson) who was befriended by famous zoo director and curator Carl F. Kauffeld of the Staten Island Zoo.\u00a0Through correspondence that lasted from 1965 to 1974 (when Kauffeld passed away), the book\u00a0chronicles friendships, adventures and snake-hunting in the Deep South.<\/p>\n

Beane not only provided 22 photos for the book, but also did a lot of editing, planning and proofing, and provided some of the letters and other info published within, from the Museum\u2019s herpetology unit archives. Beane notes that there is even a chapter in the book called \u201cMeeting Bill Palmer,\u201d the Museum\u2019s former curator of herpetology as well as a friend and mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never had the pleasure of meeting Carl Kauffeld (I was not quite 14 when he died),\u201d says Beane. \u201cBut I learned a great deal about him through people like Gary, who knew him well, and especially through my close friendship of over three decades with Bill, who spoke of Kauffeld often. Through them and others, I learned that Kauffeld was one of those larger-than-life figures who inspired and influenced many \u2014 especially young guys who simply loved snakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kauffeld, often referred to as \u201ca giant in zoo herpetology,\u201d built one of the largest collections of living reptiles in the United States while he was curator of reptiles and then director for the Staten Island Zoo. He introduced new techniques for keeping reptiles in captivity, including cage hygiene, odor control when feeding stubborn snakes, the use of ultraviolet light, and humidity controls.\u00a0Kauffeld also wrote three books, including\u00a0\u201cSnakes and their Ways\u201d\u00a0in collaboration with\u00a0Charles Howard Curran in\u00a01937,\u00a0\u201cSnakes and Snake Hunting\u201d in\u00a01957,\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cSnakes: The Keeper and the Kept\u201d in\u00a01969.<\/p>\n

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