Animal Grossology

Science Club crew

Today we went to the Animal Grossology exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown  Raleigh.  with a few of the girls from Zoë's Science Club.  I know how to identify a venomous snake from a nonvenomous snake although that has nothing to do with the exhibit, but I'm hugely thankful for Vardell's identification lesson since our backyard seems to be a breeding ground for brown snakes.  I bought a great book, too: "A Guide to the Snakes of North Carolina, by Michal E. Dorcas.  I also bought his other book "The Frogs and Toads of North Carolina.  It's a field guide and contains a good CD narrated by Dorcas.  Vardell says he has both and highly recommends them.  We listened to it on the way home and loved hearing the different calls.  That poor bullfrog in distress!  It's the first one on the CD and it's a little alarming.    Turns out they make this screeching sound when they're being eaten by a water snake.  Dorcas says it to alert other predators who will then see the snake and want to eat it, causing the snake to drop the frog.


The exhibit was based on Sylvia Branzei's books called "Animal Grossology".  Really clever exhibit.  Lots of facts about flies, slugs, slime, smells and of course, poo.  I told Donna I loved the smell of skunk after she whiffed the hole where you smell it.   Then I sniffed it and almost felt ill. I like it from a distance.  The cockroach emits a maraschino cherry smell.  Pleasant surprise there.

How a cow burps. 

Zoë really enjoyed herself.  She wrote this summary:

"Today I went to a Grossology exhibit.  I went with Delaney, Cassidy and Amey.  When I went inside the exhibit I saw lots of games and kids!  My favorite game was....Animal Grossology!  It is a game that tests you on what you've learned from the other games.  Two things I've learned today are: Cats cough up furballs because of grooming themselves and dogs sniff each others' butts to find out who they are. "

Might have to make these one day.