STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Death feigning beetles, native to Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, are practicing rolling over on their backs and playing dead.
After all, they’ve got a big gig coming up.
That would be the 14th annual Bug Zoo at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden.
Over the next two weeks more than 1,700 adults and children are expected to visit for an up close and personal encounter with exotic insects, reptiles, amphibians and other critters. And rest assured the death feigning beetles will put on a show from time to time, showing how they play dead when threatened by bigger creatures.
The enormously popular zoo, which attracts preschool students on up to high school students, will kick off from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, with a Bug Zoo Festival featuring face painting, a Web of Life scavenger hunt, cockroach races, photo ops and a chance to learn about creepy crawlers up close and personal.
The Rev. Lea Colvill of Hailey’s Emmanuel Episcopal Church will open it with a Blessing of the Animals.
A week later, youngsters and adults can attend Bug Zoo U (University)—a chance for children to learn about snakes, geckos and more from expert handlers. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 28.
Free public viewing will be offered April 23 to 27 and April 30 through May 3.
“Kids will get to pet some of the critters, if they like, which is a part I love because it builds a sense of respect for the critters,” said Kristin Fletcher, the Bug Zoo’s education director.
This year’s Bug Zoo will feature more than 35 species, including 1,500 lady bugs, along with a bearded dragon, tarantulas and best bugs, also known as patent leather beetles because they resemble patent leather shoes. Also on hand—or, rather, on gobs of little feet-- will be the orthopors desert millipede.
“They’re quite gentle,” said Lana Silver, an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Sawtooth Botanical Garden.
This year’s Bug Zoo is themed the “web of life” and will explore the relationships between things.
“We’ll have exhibits talking about food, their habitat or where they live,” said Fletcher. “We’ll have an exhibit called ‘Re-spinning the Web’ since the web is always changing. We’ll also have an exhibit called ‘Bee Connected’ about pollinators since that’s a topic of concern right now. And we’ll talk about how we have the responsibility to maintain the integrity of the web, whether it means planting pollinator friendly plants, putting up bird feeders or watering less to keep more water in the rivers and aquifers.”
Right now the educators are nurturing an aquarium full of tadpoles, also known as pollywogs.
“By Bug Zoo their hind legs should stick out and they’ll be absorbing their tails as they begin transforming into frogs and their tails,” said Fletcher.
This year’s Zoo will also feature Larry Barnes’ python snake named Boris. Pythons, which are tree climbing snakes, can grow up to 23 feet long, weighing in as much as 200 pounds with a girth as big as a telephone pole.
There’ll be a tortoise, which is a land-dwelling reptile, and a turtle, which requires a water habitat.
Missing this year’s will be Ann Christensen’s recently departed black widow spider.
“But we found a hobo spider kicking around in one of our cabinets so we’ll have it,” said Fletcher.
When it’s all over, many of the critters will go home with their families.
The last class on May 3 will release the lady bugs and butterflies into the outdoors.
“We can do that because they’re native,” said Fletcher. “In addition to learning about exotic critters that are not native, those attending the Bug Zoo get to learn about some that are. Our biggest desiere is that this encourages people to go out and enjoy nature. Often, people recreate in nature, biking and hiking. But they don’t always take to time to stop and really see what’s around them. We’re saying, ‘Stop and look.’ ”
IF YOU GO
BUG ZOO FESTIVAL--Saturday, April 21, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Includes face painting, Web of Life scavenger hunt, photo ops, cockroach races and activity tables designed to introduce kids to the live critters. Cost: $5 for adults and $3 for children 5 through 18. Children 4 and under will be admitted free.
FREE PUBLIC VIEWING--Monday-Friday, April 23-27. Recommended hours are 3 to 5 p.m. to avoid school groups.
BUG ZOO U (UNIVERSITY)--Saturday, April 28, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Owners of many of the Bug Zoo’s 35 critters will be on hand to share stories about their pets, including Hildegard, the tarantula. Biologist Ross Winton will also invite participants into the botanical garden, looking for bumblebees and butterflies, which he then will talk about. Cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children 5 through 18. Children 4 and under will be admitted free.
FREE PUBLIC VIEWING--Monday-Thursday, April 30-May 3. Recommended hours are 3 to 5 p.m. to avoid school groups.