Each year, previously certified VMN volunteers who complete another 40 hours of approved volunteer service and 8 hours of approved continuing education earn a unique recertification pin for that year. In many years, we have held a contest to choose the artwork for the pin; we are fortunate to have many VMN volunteers with artistic talent! We decided the 2023 recertification pin would be a mammal species of some kind, and we invited VMN volunteers to submit their mammal artwork. The winning artwork was selected based on input from the VMN program staff, wildlife experts from our sponsoring agencies, and volunteers in our Golden Circle.
We received a tremendous number of excellent submissions, and here we share all the artwork we received, including the winning Virginia opossum picture by Deborah Humphries in the Historic Rivers Chapter.
We asked each artist to describe why they thought the mammal they chose should be the focal species for the pin. Deborah wrote, "I think the Virginia Opossum is one of the most unique and hardest working mammals we have. They help maintain a healthy eco-system by consuming up to 90% of the ticks trying to feed on them. Additionally the are also catching and eating cockroaches, rats and mice. They eat snails and slugs and overripe fruit and berries in the garden. They are resistant to snake venom and actually prey on snakes including venomous species like copperheads and rattlesnakes in addition to consuming dead animals of all types. All this and more as they are North America’s only marsupial, so their cool factor is above and beyond other mammals. Much like master naturalists! Much of my information came from the National Wildlife Federation blog post about opossums."
Thank you to all the volunteers who participated! It is so much fun to see your creativity and passion!
We received a tremendous number of excellent submissions, and here we share all the artwork we received, including the winning Virginia opossum picture by Deborah Humphries in the Historic Rivers Chapter.
We asked each artist to describe why they thought the mammal they chose should be the focal species for the pin. Deborah wrote, "I think the Virginia Opossum is one of the most unique and hardest working mammals we have. They help maintain a healthy eco-system by consuming up to 90% of the ticks trying to feed on them. Additionally the are also catching and eating cockroaches, rats and mice. They eat snails and slugs and overripe fruit and berries in the garden. They are resistant to snake venom and actually prey on snakes including venomous species like copperheads and rattlesnakes in addition to consuming dead animals of all types. All this and more as they are North America’s only marsupial, so their cool factor is above and beyond other mammals. Much like master naturalists! Much of my information came from the National Wildlife Federation blog post about opossums."
Thank you to all the volunteers who participated! It is so much fun to see your creativity and passion!
Virginia opossum, Didelphis virginiana, by Deborah Humphries, VMN Historic Rivers Chapter. This image was chosen to be the artwork for the 2023 VMN Recertification Pin.
Click on the images below to see each submission for the 2023 VMN recertification pin artwork. The artist name and the species are listed in each caption.
