My son's first grade class toured the Petaluma Wildlife Museum last week and we were really impressed at this little educational gem tucked away behind the High School in West Petaluma!
This museum has several exhibits, some live animals and some taxidermied. There is enough to see and learn about to entertain a family with young kids for about an hour or two, depending on how inquisitive the little ones are. Our class went on a "School Tour" so it was structured and fully guided by student docents, however, a weekend visit would be relaxed and guided by your own pace.
Our class started at the Iguana Display. The guides told us all about this male/female iguana couple, and then took them out to observe and touch (with the gentle 2-finger touch, of course).
In the Reptile Room, our guide informed us about the snakes and geckos that live there. They do not have any poisonous snakes, but there are many different kinds of snakes and geckos on display. They will take almost any one of the reptiles out on request and hold them while the little ones touch and pet.
The "Cave" houses nocturnal critters such as tarantulas, toads, frogs, and cockroaches. Again a docent will take any of the critters out at your request.
The North American Room is a large display of taxidermied animals that live in North America. The animals are so lifelike and large! This display has a grizzly bear, black bears, mountain goats, mountain lion, boar, wolf, falcon, hawk, turkey, alligators, and more. They are all in natural positions and are very realistic.
The Africa Room is very dramatic with a very large African Elephant head mounted on the wall. Several lions are posed in hunting positions. There are also leopards, zebra, antelope, and hyena here.
There is also a Natural Science Room with dinosaur skulls and bones, animal skulls, and fossils.
The coolest thing about this little museum is that it is run by high school students from Petaluma High School. Several groups of students take this wildlife class and rotate throughout the day in the museum. Their duties are caring for and feeding the animals, museum maintenance, and conducting tours. They are educated on the wildlife so they can pass the knowledge onto children in School Tours or the general public.
I was surprised at the level of knowledge these students had about the exhibit animals! I learned several new things such as a tarantula's first defense is not to bite but to flick their little hairs at a predator. If the little hairs hit your skin it feels like a small bee sting and will itch for about a week. I also learned that when a frog is scared it will release, in a gush of fluid, all the water that is normally retained by their body in an attempt to frighten the predator.
The Petaluma Wildlife Museum is open to the public on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month from 11am-3pm. Admission is $5/person and children under 6 are FREE. There are docents scattered all around the exhibits to answer any questions or take the animals out of their cages.
The museum also has special events throughout the year. "Night at the Museum" is a kids' night out event and is put on a couple of times a year for a very reasonable price. The kids participate in educational activities and pizza is served. "Earth Day Safari" is a special event coming up on April 22, 5:30-7pm which includes a guest speaker from Classroom Safari. They also have a Summer Camp for kids ages 7-12 beginning on June 23.
The Petaluma Wildlife Museum is located at 201 Fair Street at the back of the Petaluma High School. On weekends you can park in the high school parking lot. For more information on the Petaluma Wildlife Museumvisit their WEBSITE.
