Going to the zoo: BART Summer Youth Tours mix fun with education

SAFETY LESSONS

Lisa Moland of BART took a few moments to  instruct the children on how to act on the transit system. “Stay safe,” she told them. They needed to stay out of the trackway under all circumstances, keep off the  yellow tile, and make sure to step over the gap between platform and train. After getting off the train at Coliseum Station, they boarded an AC Transit bus that took  them to the zoo.

While they waited for their educational presentation to begin, the kids burned off some energy by climbing on the sculptures of caterpillars, ladybugs and other creatures at the zoo's entrance. Jacob Shur, a former youth camper now a high school volunteer chaperone, said the Matt Jimenez Community Center and the opportunities it provides change children's lives for the better.

THIS IS SOMETHING THAT REALLY MEANS A LOT TO THEM

He said it was simpler than you'd think to take 25 excitable young kids on a BART trip. "They are very respectable kids," he said. "They listen; they weren't talking  too much. They followed the rules that we set for them. It's fun, helping these kids grow up." Shur's younger twin brothers were among the participants. 

The children showed their good behavior as they filed into the education center and followed instructions to be quiet, so as notto scare the animals, and take their  seats, older ones around the table and younger ones on the carpet with legs crossed and bottoms on the floor.  

CAROLINA THE TURTLE

As the kids sat quietly, Ms. Betty brought the first animal out of a container: Carolina, an Eastern box turtle, 36 years old. They talked about the importance of adaptation for animals, such as Carolina's hard shell that protects her from predators, or her coloring that provides camouflage for her among fallen leaves in the wild.

An apparently experienced program animal, Carolina gamely squiggled her head and legs outside her shell, looking the children straight in the eyes as they gave a two-finger rub along her back as instructed. She never once pulled back into her shell. 

ISIDORA THE TARANTULA

Next was Isidora, a Chilean rose-haired tarantula, making her first-ever appearance at a program for children. There was no touching with Isidora, not because she was  dangerous, Ms. Betty explained, but because the hairs that covered her body and legs can be shed as a defense if she feels threatened, and can irritate the skin of  
those allergic or sensitive to the hairs.

The curious kids leaned in for a close-up look at her compound eye, her eight legs, and her pinkish-brown hairs as Ms. Betty brought her around slowly so each child could get a view. They didn't squirm away (unlike at least one of the arachnophobic adults in the group).  

Ms. Betty explained the positive role spiders have in eating more troublesome pests, like mosquitoes, and said spiders in  the house can even be a sign of healthy air because they are very sensitive to poor air quality. 

JUBA THE LIZARD

Then came Juba, the spiny-tailed lizard native to the African desert, who got the two-fingered rub treatment again as the children touched her scales, rough like  sandpaper.

Juba adapts by burrowing into the ground with just her spiny tail left out, waiting to smack any predator that might come along.  

ADOWENDE THE PYTHON

Finally, the show-stopper, Adowende the ball python, so called because she rolls herself into a ball for security. Ms. Betty brought her around for each child to touch, and the snake curled around her arm and wrist. After discussing how the python eats its prey by crushing it dead then swallowing it whole, Ms. Betty explained that the zoo uses mice (already dead, frozen and reheated) for the once-a-week feeding that sustains the snake.

The children gleefully touched the gorgeous colored patterns of her scales. "She's not slimy at all!" said one. Ms. Betty even put Adowende on the ground right in front of the youngest kids to demonstrate her graceful movement. 

LUNCH, AND FREE TIME

After the lesson it was time to fill up on lunch, then fan out around the zoo in groups of five each with a chaperone. One group looked on in awe as a giraffe plopped  down to sit; another group giggled when a baboon used a stick to scratch his behind. A curious baby baboon ran around playing with what looked like a rubber toy of an Orca while his elders lounged in the sun. Warthogs were cooling off on the hot day by rolling in a sloppy mud puddle. So many animals, so little time!