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ilearning be fun?
At Ease, The Battalion
Friday, September 10, 1982
9
Rabbits and
snakes and
birds,oh my
by Dana Smelser
Battalion Staff
If you believe there's more to
|Llife than reading textbooks, the
?Brazos Valley Museum of Natural
ISdence has something for you.
This “untypical" museum in
P the Brazos County Park stresses
■active participation in exploring
r nature through canoe trips, nature
B trails and live animal exhibits.
I Although much of the museum is
IA walk across the
l museum's parking lot
1 leads to the Carter Creek
' Nature Trail where blue-
[ jays, cardinals, swamp
rabbits and an occasional
deer romp.
1/ i geared towards children, people
|Y of all ages probably would enjoy
the many programs it has to offer.
For animals that do more than
play dead, visit the museum's col-
| lection of native live animals,
which include numerous snakes
and turtles and pet Marzola, a
friendly corn snake, who has vi
sited several elementary clas
srooms in the area and likes to be
petted.
If creativity is your thing, you
I can make a beatle or spider out of
; plastic foam, wooden sticks and
E cleaners. Tst your skills at
ing your favorite insect in the
, Find-a-Bug area.
natioiul'i The museum also houses a dis-
ifica#’ covery room where children can
(it;. dig into boxes of leaves and snake
skins and observe science first
hand.
A walk across the parking lot
leads to the Carter Creek Nature
Trail, where' bluejays, cardinals,
swamp rabbits and an occasional
deer romp. During the l$*minute
walk, a novice can learn to identity
poison ivy, examine a cotton
attend
r staid 1 ?
tionw
itown
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/ean
i. We’tf •
wood tree and discover log
jamming.
This fall, programs on the
basics of paddling and controlling
a canoe will be taught. A canoe
trip down the winding Brazos Riv
er will be offered where nature can
be observed from a different angle
— a boat.
A certified hunter-safety course
also ways to keep safe in the wil
derness.
Children can attend Dinosaur
Day or learn to build bird houses
so they can watch the critters in
their back yard. The museum also
hosts a Babies & Beasties program
where infants are exposed to na
ture through the use of animals
and toys.
In November, the museum will
turn a new leaf and set a exhibit
named Cotton Days. The exhibit
will trace the evolution of cotton
farming in the Brazos Valley and
stress the importance of cotton to
this area. Visitors also will be able
actually use a loom and see how
cotton is made into material.
And if the urge to read suddenly
hits during all this, try the
museum's small library.
The museum is in the Brazos
Center on Briarcrest — just off the
Highway 6 bypass. The Brazos
Center is part of the Brazos Coun
ty Park, constructed on 50 acres of
The museum's collection
of native live animals in
cludes numerous snakes
and turtles and Marzola,
a friendly corn snake,
who visits elementary
classrooms in the area
and likes to be petted.
land. Roughly 30 acres of the park
remain in a natural state, serving
as an outdoor laboratory and na
ture trail.
Museums, like attics, collect all those
things that are too good to throw away,
although there is no place to keep them.
These birds are only a few of the goodies
in the Brazos Valley Museum.
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