If you have ever wondered why snakes stick their tongues out so much, why a meerkat smells so bad or why an owl wobbles its head, then speak to one of our Y3 boys. After their exiting session on animals who live in extreme areas of the world with Steve from the Dinosaur, Wildlife and Education Centre (DWAEC), they have all the answers.
During the course of the afternoon, the boys met two very friendly snakes: a python and a boa constrictor. They learned all about their incredible tongues, which help them not only taste, but also see and hear. They also picked up lots of fascinating facts, before being quizzed on their knowledge of snakes, and we are proud to say we had a few experts in the audience who could even name all the three snakes native to the UK.
The boys also met a very slow-moving black and white tegu lizard and a whole family of meerkats; the most aggressive animals of the afternoon (and the smelliest), despite their cute and cuddly appearance, a tarantula and a scorpion.
However, it was two very different but incredible birds that truly made the afternoon. The kookaburra’s infectious laughing call had all the boys in fits of giggles, while the eagle owl, one of the largest owls in the world, entertained them with his wonderful and very vocal hoot, and when he took to flight around our Erskine May Hall, he amazed us all. To see an apex predator in flight at very close quarters is an experience not to be forgotten.
The brilliant session introduced the boys to some incredible animals who live in some of the most inhospitable parts of our extreme earth, helped them to understand more about their behaviour, and, most importantly, showed them up close that some of the ‘scary’ animals are not scary at all but fascinating and awe-inspiring.