SPRINGFIELD — New students weren’t the only fresh faces in the A.Lincoln Commons during the first week of classes.
Other newbies included Ashton the eastern screech owl, Tobias the red tailed hawk, Sue the baby Virginia opossum, several snakes including a carpet python who goes by the name of Arrow, a blue-tongued skink, and finally, this year’s crowd favorite, the 23-year-old endangered Asian brown tortoise named Easton.
Student Life hosted Zoo to You event for students on Aug. 26. The Henson Robinson Zoo brought a variety of animals to campus.
The animals delighted the crowd, but none as much as Easton who, despite being a tortoise, was constantly on the move looking for shoe strings to bite and tables to climb under. Nearly as popular was the adorable baby opossum whose small size and cute appearance would almost make one forget that opossum are generally considered a pest animal.
The show wasn’t just for fun, though as one handler, a man named Larry, explained to an interested crowd: “We go to schools and churches, showing off the animals to educate people and to get them interested in conservation.”
Education was indeed the main attraction for the event as student after student fired off questions to the volunteers:
“What do the animals eat?” one student asked.
“The snakes and birds eat frozen mice, so that there is no threat of harm. Easton eats vegetables mostly cabbage, and Sue eats mushed up cat food,” the zoo employee answered.
“Is the opossum a rescue?” another student asked.
“Yes,” the staff said. “But she is a very rare case as the zoo doesn’t normally handle rescues. She was introduced to humans so early that she can’t go back to the wild.”
“Why dose the Tortoise move so much, I thought they were slow and lazy?” a student asked.
“Easton is exploring his environment looking most likely for food and shelter, his basic needs,” the staff explained.
The Volunteers handled every question both quickly and very precisely with hardly a glance at their cheat sheets.
Anyone interested in volunteering for the Henson Robinson Zoo at special events and educational activities can contact Emily McEvoy by the zoo phone number 217-585-1821 or by email at [email protected]
Another way to show support is a visit to the zoo. It located in Lake Park, near Lake Springfield, at 1100 E. Lake Shore Drive.
The park is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and until 6 p.m. on weekends.
By Steven Hoskins
Staff Writer
Steven Hoskins can be reached at [email protected].