Thursday, March 12, 2009

Reptile Night!





Monday night we took our kids to the Bean Museum at BYU for family home evening. They were having a reptile show, and I thought it would be fun for us to go and find out more about our reptile friends. Nellie, who isn't really a fan of snakes told me she wouldn't sit within twenty-five feet of a snake, but she reluctantly agreed to go (At the museum they have an art show going on right now, and a couple of people we like a lot had had pieces in it, so that tipped the scales in my favor).

We got there just a few minutes before the show and got a padded bench on the front row which was nice because immediately after another 40-50 people showed up and many of them didn't get to sit down. The show was a lot of fun, our host was like the crocodile hunter, in fact I would label him Croc Hunter jr. He was really good at keeping the kids attention, and I actually learned quite a bit. First he brought out a tortoise and told us about the differences between turtles and tortoises. Next he brought out a large monitor lizard and reminded us that most animals are intimidated by humans. J Scott's favorite part was probably when Croc Hunter jr. told us that if a monitor was threatened enough he would rip you up and defecate in your wounds. Of course he didn't laugh until he asked me what the word meant and, being an honest dad, I told him. Eva was really cute and fascinated by the animals, but her highlight came when she wriggled from Nellie's lap and proceeded to back herself up into the lap of the girl sitting on the ground by us. It was really cute, it was also funny when a moment later she hypocritically shushed the girl with her little finger over her lips.

J. Scott got to help hold a huge snake skin, and after that Nellie had to take Eva for a walk for some reason. We got to see a couple of snakes and I learned that many of the fears we hold about snakes are based on myths. Croc Hunter jr. tried to demonstrate a snake chasing him, but snakes don't chase people. He also told us that in areas of America where they have rattlesnake roundups and kill a bunch of snakes are areas that have the highest incidences of hantavirus. Apparently it messes up an ecosystem if you take away animals that eat disease-spreading mice.

After the presentation was over, both Eva and J. Scott got to pet the snakes and the monitor lizard. J. Scott was fascinated by the feel of the snake and kept going back to touch it. Nellie was close enough to snap some shots. Eva's favorite was the monitor, because the monitor kept spitting out it's forked tongue and touching her hand with it. She giggled and didn't seemed the least bit frightened.

On the way home, we talked about animals and the blessings they are to us. We talked about how they gave us food, materials for clothing, and I forgot to talk about the fertilizer they provide us with! It was a lot of fun, I think we'll do the rest of the museum soon.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Ummm, if I know Janelle...there were pictures taken...so???

Unknown said...

sorry, missed the part that said janelled took pictures. Put them up!