This week we were visited by Rob from Zoolab. Everyone was very excited as we chatted about what animals we might see. Rob was very knowledgeable and shared lots of fascinating information about the animals. Firstly, we were invited to hold and pet a tortoise called Elmer. We looked at her beautiful shell and markings and Rob told us a little more about her and in particular what she eats (her favourite food is dandelions) and every year she is allowed one strawberry treat on her birthday. We were then introduced to Tilly the Tarantula. She stayed in her box as she is very delicate. The children and residents were all amazed by her. She was one of the smaller spiders that Rob has in his collection and the biggest is the size of a dinner plate!
We met a very lazy millipede, a giant cockroach and a gecko. The gecko felt like velvet and the children were wowed by him. However, we had to be very careful as he really enjoyed sitting on the children’s arm and jumping off! This was a wonderfully inclusive intergenerational session. The residents enjoyed asking questions and learning about the animals just as much as the children. We are looking forward to more animal visits in the future.
