The Critter Van Brings Its

Captivatingly Cuddly Creepy Crawlies

By Larissa Lytwyn

The children in the morning kindergarten class at the Sandy Hook school recently enjoyed their annual visit from Rick LaDue’s Critter Van, which is part of the many interactive education and family programs offered through the Eliot Pratt Nature Center in Milford.

Mr LaDue introduced students to a tarantula, several newts, a Madagascan cockroach, and a young snapping turtle — all to the children’s unbridled delight.

Before arriving at her class, kindergarten teacher Janet Vollmer prepared her students by having them draw the kinds of animals they thought they might see on the easel.

Creatures ranged from dogs and cats to snakes.

Still, no one seemed disappointed when Mr LaDue arrived and brought out the tarantula.

“Tarantulas don’t live around here,” he assured, “but in arid, desert regions.”

He explained how they burrowed in holes, often created by other animals, to both keep cool in the desert’s daunting heat and also capture their prey.

“Tarantulas don’t build webs like most other spiders,” said Mr LaDue. Instead, the animals release a poison, paralyzing their prey (usually small insects) as effectively as the traditional sticky web.

The tarantula was passed around the group in his special sand-filled case.

Next, Mr LaDue brought out a container filled with several lively, slithering Pacific newts — the West Coast’s answer to salamanders.

“Newts are very similar to salamanders,” said Mr LaDue. “However, they tend to like the water more and be in it more frequently, while the salamanders live on the forest floor.”

Mr LaDue interacted with the children, asking them to state their first name when they answered questions, such as guessing how long an animal lived.

“How long do you think tarantulas live?” he asked one child.

“Two years?” the child replied.

“A little longer than that,” answered Mr LaDue. “Actually, it’s seven years. Now, how old are you all know? Five or six years old? If you were a tarantula, you would be getting a little old by now! You would be an old lady or an old man!”

“He’s really good with the kids,” noted Ms Vollmer as Mr LaDue prepared to show children the next animal. “He’s not condescending or anything like that.”

“You know how children don’t always like to answer questions, they like to tell stories!” she declared. “We’ve been working on that all year — emphasizing what you want to know, not what you know.”

Mr LaDue next introduced the children to a “hissing” cockroach, native to Madagascar.

“They hiss not because they are going to hurt you, it’s more like they are annoyed, or cranky,” Mr LaDue explained. “The sound is produced through small holes in their abdomen that they blow air out of.”

He allowed children who felt comfortable to touch the cockroach, a female.

Later he said how it was interesting to sometimes see the emergence of stereotypical gender-based behavior in the girls and boys.

“Sometimes, the girls will immediately be squeamish,” he said. But recently, he continued, during one presentation, a little girl was notably bold in her handling of the cockroach.

“She was great,” Mr LaDue remembered. “She was a great role model for the other girls. She made the other girls a little more confident.”

Working with animals, even insects, continued Mr LaDue, allows children to better understand them.

“They won’t have to be scared the next time they see an insect,” he said. “It’s a great age group for this [lesson] to be established in, because kindergarten-aged children tend to be less fearful anyway.”

Mr LaDue allowed the kindergarteners to stroke the dark, green shelled back of the Critter Van’s last animal, a small snapping turtle.

“Snappers can grow to be quite large,” Mr LaDue noted. “If you ever see this guys in the wild, it’s best not to pick them up. Their bite can hurt you.”

The children seemed sad when he had to leave.

“He was really phenomenal,” said Ms Vollmer. “We’ve had Critter Van come for a while now, and he was one of the best [hosts] we’ve had!”

The Critter Van was brought to Sandy Hook School through the district’s Cultural Arts committee. For more information on the Pratt Center, visit www.prattcenter.org.