Walk on the wild side
Children have hands-on experience with animals at library
Cullen and Corinne Travis were mesmerized by a cage full of chicks in the Lighthouse Point Library parking lot.
“I like this one and this one and this one and this one,” said Cullen, 4, of Buffalo, N.Y. “Only the little dark ones.” “We have a dog,” said Corinne, 6. No bunnies, though, and the bunny cage was Cullen’s next stop during the fourhour Wild about the Library event.
As part of the library’s 50th anniversary celebration, the library recently invited children to make masks or have their faces painted, enjoy a bounce house and learn about wildlife rehabilitation.
The invitation included an opportunity to meet animals face-to-muzzle (or beak or nose).
On the west side of the municipal complex were domestic animals: a calf, the chicks, a rabbit, a rooster and other childsized farm animals in approachable pens.
On the east side, in Dixon Ahl Hall, about 30 kids sat cross-legged on the rug for a meet and greet with Palm Beach Zoo animals. The animals were handled by wranglers who also answered children’s questions.
“Does Amada have any defenses?” asked Lighthouse Point resident Claire Yates, 6, of the rainbow boa cradled by Palm Beach Zoo educator Georgene Joiner and intern Amber Prinkey.
“Her best defense is that she can hide,” Joiner said.
“Why do they change color in the sunlight?” asked Adriana Boucher, 6 and of Lighthouse Point.
“When the sun hits the scales on her skin, it reflects the light and breaks the light up into smaller colors,” Joiner answered, with predictable results from her audience: “Can I see? Can I see? Can I see?”
Green Bean, a prehensile-tail skink that moved only when shifted from one arm to the other, didn’t get the same enthusiastic reception. But Freckles, the 25-year-old three-toed box turtle, was a big hit.