Animal Academy-October

This month at Animal Academy the lesson was about snakes, this went along very well with the previous days visit to N.E.R.D. (post below). In fact the owner of the place which hosts Animal Academy said he worked at N.E.R.D. in his younger days.

The kids had a lecture about snakes, their anatomy and some fun facts and then learned about snake handling tools. They were then able to try the tools and wrangle some snakes back into their cases. Later we went to the reptile room to meet more snakes, a legless lizard and other reptiles. We have a wonderful time at Animal Academy. 'm glad we made the choice to take on this course even though it's a 2 hour trek each way. The people at Animal Academy clearly love their work and enjoy sharing what they know with the kids and the parents. So far the classes all have run long too, it a fun way to spend a morning.

After class we were given a chance to choose an animal or two to adopt and learn more about at home. So this was a special treat. The Animal Academy takes in quite a few rescues when people get pets and then decide it's too much work. Or have pets they aren't allowed to have where they live or other such reasons. Often these pets which have been turned in are pregnant and when they become over run the animal place looks for new homes as was the case today. they had quite a few rodents and turtles for adoption.

Snake Handling 101- I like how they don't talk down to the kids here. They assume the kids are intelligent and want to learn much about the animals not just a collection of cute facts.


Colin loved snake handling!

Did I meet your twin yesterday at N.E.R.D.?

Not a snake-Legless lizard

Lizards

Our new friends...

I think the kids have named them Pumpkin and Bongo. We will be breeding them one time (they are easy to sex and are not prolific breeders) and setting up two habitats, one for males and one for females for these social creatures who like to live in groups.