Animals at the Library

During the summer, I try to take advantage of some of the free programs offered at the library.  Michelle and Ella were able to attend a 3 day STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) summer camp at Magna Library.  It was free and was run by USU Extension.  They learned about architecture and took a tour of the Magna Library and listened to a presentation by the two men who designed Magna Library.  Then they worked in small groups to design and build (out of Legos and other construction materials) a library.  They enjoyed it.

About a month ago, the girls and I all went to Kearns Library when Scales and Tails was there doing a presentation.  We were able to see the different reptiles they brought.

 This cute guy, Little M, is a one year old red footed tortoise.  He will live for about 40 years.

Flapjack is a pancake tortoise.  He has a soft shell because he is a rockclimbing tortoise.  He climbs between rocks, then puffs out his chest so predators can't pull him out. He lives in Africa.

This is Stink, the blue tongued skink.  He lives in Australia.  He makes a good pet because he stays fairly small, eats fruits and veggies and crickets, and he doesn't run too fast.  He will puff out his body and stick out his blue tongue to scare away predators.

Gordon, a Cuban iguana, gets up to 5 feet long and weighs 30 pounds when full grown.  He can hold his breath for 30 minutes.  He eats fruits and veggies.  He isn't a good pet...he lives 25-30 years, bites hard, eats A LOT, and has sharp claws.

This is Tweedle Dum.  He is a gopher snake.  They live in holes and are nonvenomous.   They use mimicry (they look like rattlesnakes.)  There are 30  species of snake in Utah.  7 of these species are venomous. 

Jungle is a Python from Australia.  He lives in trees.  He eats birds by constricting them, then opening his mouth and swallowing his prey whole.

I suspect the girls had almost as much fun playing tag in the grass afterward as they did learning about these reptiles.  They could have touched some of them after the presentation, but they didn't want to wait in line.

Add caption