HELENA — Many people collect things like stamps, coins, or action figures, but one Helena man's collection is his personal natural history museum.
Howard Schwartzman is a retired zoologist whose love of animals was inspired by a childhood neighbor.
"All of us kids would come down, and he had an alligator called lady. He's the one that got a bunch of us kids in the neighborhood interested in animals," said Schwartzman.
Schwartzman runs Second Nature, the company he created, which brings a variety of animal education programs to you.
A few include Animals of the Rocky Mountains, Horns, Antlers, and Tusks, Venomous Snakes of the World, and A Ton of Fun, which highlights animals weighing one ton or more.
He says he has tried to get his programs running here in Helena, setting up at conventions and contacting local organizations. Still, he has seen limited interest, and transporting the specimens is challenging.
"You've got to take everything, box it, bubble wrap it. Also, you don't know if you are going to really offend anybody and the insurance you have to carry," Schwartzman said.
So, the thousands of pieces in his collection go relatively unseen.
However, he hopes that after all the years and thousands of presentations, he may have influenced a child the way his neighbor once influenced him.
"You never know who you are going to inspire. That's the gift of a teacher. It doesn't matter if you're teaching with animals or doing algebra. It is to make an impact. You can only impress people from a distance. You impact people by being up close," Schwartzman said.
Schwartzman has a beetle display currently set up at the Lewis and Clark Library, and you can find more about Second Nature here.
