Green Thumb: Venomous creatures of the desert

The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center deals with all kinds of poisonings. Bites and stings from snakes, scorpions and spiders are a real threat in our state, the venomous creature capital of the United States.

Come learn about these animals’ behaviors to prevent injuries, symptoms of bites or stings and first aid treatment at our Oct. 15 Green Valley Gardeners’ Thursday seminar series. A Power-Point presentation with excellent close-up photos allows you to “get close and personal” with the creatures with no danger involved!

Our speaker, Liz Barta, who is a Certified Health Education specialist, brings enthusiasm, experience and energetic humor to all her programs and presentations. Liz holds a BS in Nursing from the UofA and is the educator for the Arizona and Drug Information Center in Tucson.

Discover also the many services provided by the experts at the Arizona Drug and Poison Information Center. You will also learn how the Poison Center can help you with other poisoning emergencies and questions.

The APDIC is a statewide service which provides 24-hour, 7-day-a-week emergency poison and drug information to consumers and health professionals and is coordinated by the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center. The APDIC is committed to poison prevention and public education in order to reduce the incidence and severity of poisoning in the home.

Coffee is on at 9 a.m. at the East Center and the program begins at 9:30. Master Gardeners are on hand to answer gardening-related questions and there is a new “Plants Available/Plants Wanted” bulletin board for gardeners to use to obtain as well as dispose of plants.

This column is proviided by members of the Green Valley Gardeners and seminar speakers.