MIDDLETON | Kindergarten and pre-K students at the Fuller Meadow School made friends with some unusual characters recently in their cafeteria, with names like Rude Randy, Princess Anastasia, Alvin, and Fluffy. They were introduced to them by Brianna Havir, an educator from Animal Adventures, a family zoo and science center in Bolton.
The furry and scaly guests were kept hidden in unlabeled cages and crates at the front of the room, like mysterious wrapped presents on Christmas morning. As Havir reached into each box to grab the next performer, the children gasped with anticipation.
The students got to see every animal upclose, and were even allowed to touch the creatures if they wanted to. One brave child — Harrison Davis, 5 — even volunteered to have a corn snake creep along his face and hair to prove that its reputation as a slimy predator was false.
The visit by Animal Adventures has been a popular one for the past few years that Fuller Meadow has hosted it.
"It's great, especially for this age group," said Linda Tirrusa of the Middleton PTO, which sponsored the visit. "They love the hands-on."
Havir had the young audience members in stitches as she showed Bob the chinchilla's helicopter tail and Rude Randy the blue tongued skunk's stubby legs. The giggles continued when Fluffy, an American alligator, left a puddle of urine on the cafeteria floor.
The children also learned to dance like Alvin the skunk if he were to spray his scent. Luckily, Alvin was unable to spread his horrific odor, but the students still held their noises and squealed excitedly.
Some of the other animals that made an appearance were an African pygmy hedgehog aptly named Spike and Princess Anastasia, a 20-year-old tortoise.
Havir, who has led animal programs from toddler groups to nursing homes, was impressed how attentively, knowledgeable, and controlled the Fuller Meadow children were, despite the often overwhelming stimuli of the adorable creatures.
"These kids were very good, very well behaved," said Havir, who has worked with Animal Adventures for more than three years
Arguably the star of her morning presentation was Bob, a chinchilla that came all the way from the Andes Mountains in South America. The students got to see his enormous ears and pet his silky, smooth coat. When Havir brought a fishbowl of dust near Bob, his petite arms and legs began flailing wildly as he tried to inch closer. As it turned out, Bob wanted to take a bath, and the children were tickled to see the large rodent twisting and twirling in the bowl as puffs of dust came out of the top. They also learned that Bob has a collapsable skeleton, just like mice and rats, that helps him squeeze into the tiniest crevices to avoid predators. To prove it, Havir playfully squished Bob between her palms, shocking the audience.
Havir's enthusiasm for education and for the creatures themselves delighted the Fuller Meadow students, parents and teachers in attendance. Through her program, she hoped that her passion for the animal kingdom will rub off on the young children.
"It's the coolest job in the world, getting to show animals to kids," Havir said. "The more they learn about animals, they'll also learn to have more respect for them."
Brianna Havir, with Animal Adventures, squishes a chinchilla to show how flexible its skeleton is. Pre-school and kindergarten children from Fuller Meadow Elementary School saw a presentation by Havir showing animals from reptiles to rodents. Angie Beaulieu/(Click for larger image)
