Nancy Stoddard is brimming with facts about the Western hognose snake. They're native to southwestern Minnesota. They play dead when threatened. And they eat venomous toads, Stoddard explained to several kids as she cradled the small, brown-spotted snake.
"I've always been animal crazy," said Stoddard, who has accrued 6,500 volunteer hours at the Minnesota Zoo in 17 years.
The work of Stoddard and her fellow volunteers hasn't gone unnoticed. This fall, the Minnesota Zoo received a national award recognizing its volunteer program, which has logged more than 3 million volunteer hours since the institution opened in 1978.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), a nonprofit that accredits zoos and advocates for conservation, honored the Apple Valley zoo with its 2016 Volunteer Engagement Award.
The Minnesota Zoo has one of the larger zoo volunteer programs nationally, said Sheri White Commers, director of volunteer services. More than 1,100 volunteers help out in 50 subject areas, contributing 113,000 hours a year. Some have been coming for decades and accumulated more than 30,000 hours.
"Volunteers are integral to our operations," Commers said. "There are programs that don't happen if we don't have volunteers here."
Many pitch in by providing "animal encounters," showing animals and artifacts to visitors and offering interesting facts about the animals. The family farm exhibit is run completely by volunteers.
Volunteering at the zoo requires extensive training, including five Saturday classes to start and twice-annual seminars. They receive weekly e-mail updates with facts about new animals — such as the armadillo, the skink, the tarantula and the hedgehog — and must pass a written test and observation before they can show the creatures.
