CRITTER CAMP; MOORPARK COLLEGE LINKS UP CREATURES, YOUNGSTERS.Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer The squeals of delight and distress coming from the America's Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College Moorpark College is a California-state funded community college located on a 134 acre (542,000 m²) property reclining on a hill in Moorpark, a town in Ventura County, California. on Tuesday were equal parts animal and human. In the second day of its Junior Safari Day Camp, children ages 6-8 were introduced to turtles, snakes, rats and guinea pigs - with varied results. Some recoiled from touching the slithering slith·er v. slith·ered, slith·er·ing, slith·ers v.intr. 1. To glide or slide like a reptile. See Synonyms at slide. 2. To walk with a sliding or shuffling gait. 3. snakes because they squirmed too much, while others delighted in the snakes wrapping themselves around their hands. And the loud squawks coming from the reptile cage Tuesday were disconcerting dis·con·cert tr.v. dis·con·cert·ed, dis·con·cert·ing, dis·con·certs 1. To upset the self-possession of; ruffle. See Synonyms at embarrass. 2. until a young camper explained the reason the bird inside was so upset. ``That bird in there, she's sick, so she's in the reptile room,'' said 10-year-old Natalie Katz. ``She thinks all the reptiles are her babies, so she doesn't like us holding them.'' Each Monday, a different set of children begins the 7-year-old program, which is sponsored by the Exotic Animal Training and Management program at the college. The children act as junior keepers and trainers while they are familiarized with the wild and exotic animals that have found their way to the college's zoo compound. The children get a crash course in animal handling and training, and by the fourth day, they are careful enough with the animals to take part in a show featuring the critters. While the classes mainly deal with the smaller creatures, the campers are taken on a tour of the zoo on their first day to meet its residents. The collection includes buffaloes, camels, two hyenas, a baboon baboon, any of the large, powerful, ground-living monkeys of the genus Papio, also called dog-faced monkeys. Five subspecies live in Africa, with one species extending into the Arabian peninsula. , a sea lion sea lion, fin-footed marine mammal of the eared seal family (Otariidae). Like the other member of this family, the fur seal, the sea lion is distinguished from the true seal by its external ears, long, flexible neck, supple forelimbs, and hind flippers that can be and a variety of primates and wolves - many of which were abandoned or abused by owners after they grew too unwieldy to keep and now cannot be released into the wild. ``We start out by telling as many personal stories as possible about the animals,'' said Kim Kleinman, one of the EATM EATM Exotic Animal Training Management graduates who coordinated the program this year. ``When they know the story of the animal and what it goes through, it gives them a sense of that animal better than the National Geographic version.'' For the most part, the students said their only exposure to animals has been behind cages in zoos and with the usual household pets, goldfish, cats and dogs Cats and Dogs A slang term referring to speculative stocks that have short or suspicious histories for sales, earnings, dividends, etc. Notes: In a bull market analysts will often mention that everything is going up, even the cats and dogs. . CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1-2--Color) Children watch a desert tortoise desert tortoise see gopherus agassizii. Tuesday during Moorpark College's Junior Safari Day Camp. Amanda Nye, 6, holds a 2-week-old baby rat, left, as part of the animal program. Evan Yee/Daily News |
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