Discovery Tour

My tour this Saturday was a fun one. Not that that’s unusual; most of my tours are fun. But every once in a while I get an extra-special one.

This one was a family with 3 young kids who were celebrating their 8-year-old’s birthday by taking her and a few of her friends to the zoo. She actually chose to go to the zoo for her day, and was the one who wanted to take the tour!

I had 6 kids (5 girls and 1 boy), ranging in age from about 10 to probably 4, and two adults. They were a very well behaved group of kids, and all were excited to be there. I loved the way the family worked together – the parents were very attentive to their kids, making sure they understood everything and were having fun, and did not spend the entire 2 hours yelling at the little ones. I see that all too often, unfortunately.

Since my audience was mostly kids, and it was their event anyway, I spoke to them and at their level. That’s always fun: you get to make animal noises and wild gestures with your whole body – all without caring what the adult might be thinking of you!

The animals were cooperative, for the most part. We never did get to see the tigers, but the polar bears were both up and about. Those are the two “behind-the-scenes” portions of the tour, which is why we’re able to charge for it, since those are places the average zoo-goer doesn’t get to see normally.

The wolves were a big hit. They all come running up to the fence whenever the little ones arrive. The girls were all excited about that until I explained exactly why the wolves did that: little ones are their preferred prey! The youngest girl – the 4 year old – got a little nervous at that, but took it all in good fun, as it was intended.

The mushrooms are starting to peek up out of the ground, so I got to include them into my talk. They are fascinating to me, so I like to share what I’ve learned with people.

I’d also just read an article about Cow Parsnip, so was able to give some interesting information about that plant to them. The Mom was rather amazed to learn that the Russian settlers, back before Americans showed up, used to use it as insulation in their cabins.

Two hours is an awful long time when you’re only 4 years old, so by the time the tour was over the kids were more than ready to sit down and eat their lunch. I left them at the picnic tables and headed home for my own lunch.