Winding its way through June and July, the Summer Reading Program at the Escalon Library continues to serve up some interesting fare.
Case in point, the recent Conservation Ambassadors’ Wild Things program, which saw a variety of animals from a red-tailed hawk to a skunk, even a Burmese python from India named “Miss Piggy” have the opportunity to get up close and personal with a receptive audience of youngsters.
The Wild Things Center is located in Colfax and has been in operation for more than 30 years.
“We give a home to wild animals that need help,” Director Gabe Kerschner told the overflow crowd of kids and their adult counterparts seated in the Ekholm Meeting Room at the library on Wednesday afternoon, July 8. “Wild animals that are hurt and can’t live free in the forest, sometimes those animals are sent to our center.”
He also told those attending that some animals are those that people have tried – often illegally – to keep as pets.
“We have a big problem here in California, we have a problem with people trying to make pets out of wild animals,” Kerschner shared. “That never, ever works and it’s also against the law so those animals are taken away and they’re sent to our center at Wild Things as well.”
Kerschner said since the animals they take in at the center aren’t able to return to the wild, they instead are used for educational purposes, but also are treated very well in return for their willingness to help share their story.
“We work with them, give them lots of love, lots of attention,” he explained, “and a whole lot of food. So much food.”
Wednesdays show featured a collection of mammals, birds and reptiles.
“Each one of these animals has kind of a neat story; why it lives at our center and why it does not get to live life free as it truly is supposed to,” Kerschner added.
He encouraged the audience to be quiet and respectful of the animals so as not to frighten them during the show. However, when three of them chose to leave a deposit – either on the display table or the library floor – it was difficult to keep the crowd from laughing out loud.
Kerschner kept up a running commentary as he presented each animal, giving a little bit of history of how it came to be at the Wild Things center and how its life would be different if it lived in the wild. He also brought a few kids up to assist in holding some of the animals, such as a Western screech owl and a red-tailed hawk, with several volunteers helping him with the grand finale, holding the Burmese Python.
Following the show, those that wanted to were able to take a turn to pet the python and pose for photos with it.
Wild Things was just one of the many shows being offered this summer at the library, with the Summer reading Club activities continuing through July 31.
