A Little Bit More
Having wild animals as pets is a difficult issue at times – it has many positive aspects but negative ones too. We’re not advocating that people collect wild animals and bring them home – we’re really discouraging this practice - but it’s also true that a great deal can be learned from captive animals. Of course, some animals are more “pet friendly” than others. Mammals and birds are more difficult to care for and are rarely appropriate, if even legal, to bring home. Reptiles, amphibians and creepy-crawlies certainly need our respect and care too but are less demanding in the short term.
It was my family’s policy when we found an interesting animal that our boys wanted to bring home, I would remind them of the short term nature of this kind of “visit”. The animal could be brought into the house, properly housed, and fed (if it would eat), and then reasonably soon afterward, released where it was found. The first time or two an animal was returned there were some tears but quickly the boys understood that subsequent critters were just “visiting” and would not stay. This policy seemed to work well for us and allowed our boys to experience toads, crickets, a nice garden spider, turtles, a couple of garter snakes, and multiple salamanders “up close and personal” during their childhood. I believe that what my boys learned about the natural world far outweighed the damage we inflicted on these creatures and it is hoped that the respect we modeled for our boys will be modeled again for their children and friends.
Activities
Science – Worms
Objectives: Experience live animals in the classroom/home
Materials: Instructions are online at the websites below
Let’s start small on the idea of bringing a living creature into our classroom or home for study. Almost everyone has access to worms, whether from their own garden, flowerbed, yard, or local park. But before any animals are collected, I’d suggest that you and/or your students learn about their basic needs first so you can prepare for any worms you collect.
Good info on worms:
Online “Worm Game”
Setting up a worm bin:
Worm composting basics:
Once you’ve learned about worms and how to set up a small container in your classroom or home, you can go out and collect some specimens. Keep in mind that not all worms are the same species so the kind you collect may be different from the one that your information discusses. Don’t let this dissuade you but realize that you may need to make some subtle changes in your handling of the animals.
Although worms don’t rank very high on the “respect scale”, please be sure to model respectful behavior with the worms. Treating these living creatures with respect should help students model your behavior when they discover their own animals at a later time.
Key Concepts
Structures and Functions, Identification, Environmental Issues, Behavior and Regulation
Questions
Do you have a question for a naturalist? Go ahead and ask!
It's easy -- just fill out this form, submit your question and you'll receive an answer shortly.