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Reminder Assistant Editor EAST LONGMEADOW Things got a little wild at the East Longmeadow Public Library last Thursday when Stan Lupa visited, bringing a small menagerie of animals from Lupa Zoo, located in Ludlow, to visit. The animals' visit was part of the Wild Reads @ Your Library summer reading program. Lupa presented a wide variety of animals native to Africa to young readers involved in the program. He said the animals were chosen not because they were all from Africa but because they were the ones "feeling the best" to travel that day. Kids and parents learned about mammals like the KORCIMON, from West Africa, who produce babies the size of golf balls and whose favorite food is meal worms; the Egyptian fruit bat, who has really good eyesight, uses echolocation and lives in group of 15 up to 3,000; the African porcupine, who has really sensitive skin and teeth that never stop growing, like beavers; and the Fennec fox from Northern Africa, who uses its big ears to regulate its body temperature and is also the smallest fox in the world. Attendees of the event also got to see an African millipede, which has about 500 legs and an Emperor scorpion, which is the largest but the least toxic scorpion in the world and therefore is the most common as a pet. "The smaller the scorpion, the more poisonous it is," Lupa explained. When the program ended, children had the chance to pet the Fennec fox. Six-year-old Alex Smith said it was like petting "an orange basketball." Jenna Hebert, who is almost seven-years-old, said the fox was really soft. "I thought it was a wonderful program," Children's Librarian Cindy MacNaught said. "There was a great assortment of animals and the kids were really enthusiastic about it." More animals will be visiting the library on July 15, when Tom Ricardi will be presenting "Meet the Wild Birds of Prey." No registration is necessary to see a live American eagle. MacNaught reminds parents that there is still time left for children to sign up for the Wild Reads @ Your Library program. To sign up, come into the Children's Department during regular library hours, and for more information, call 525-5400 ext. 156. | ||||||
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Click here for more photos of the event | |
