HANDY LOOK AT ECOLOGY; SIMI SCHOOL KIDS GET VISIT FROM WILDLIFE.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

The questions Anita Jackson asked pupils at Parkview Elementary School sounded like something straight out of Dr. Seuss.

Do kinkajous eat at McDonald's? (Never.) Do alligators swim in bathtubs? (Not if they can help it.)

But it wasn't ``The Cat in the Hat'' that drove home the environmental lessons Jackson taught Monday. It was live, exotic animals from around the world.

``Our idea is using animals as a bridge to teach kids history, and the value of the self and the interconnectedness of nature,'' she said. ``We try to inspire them to start thinking and comprehending.''

Jackson is the educational director and founder of Zoo To You Wildlife Education Inc. of Paso Robles. Her group runs a wildlife welfare center, as well as the traveling Zoo To You program. The visit to Simi Valley marked the first time the 7-year-old group has visited a school in Ventura County.

Jackson and her assistant, Dawn Mazzagetti, showed children an opossum from the woods of Maine, a kinkajou (honey bear) from the African jungle, Tango the parrot from Brazil, Cujo the python from Asia, tenrecs from Madagascar, and Spike and Bob, two alligators originally from Louisiana.

Cujo the python caused the biggest thrill - and chill - among the rapt, excitable children who attended the second of three shows Monday. A mere 10 feet long, and weighing about 50 pounds, Cujo eats once a month and could one day grow to 28 feet and 300 pounds.

The cuddly kinkajou - a sleek, brown, small-headed fellow with a very long tail - lives in trees and yearns not for Big Macs, but for the honey of bees.

``He pokes his face into beehives and licks the honey,'' Jackson told the students. ``But he feels no bee stings. He's immune to the venom of bees.''

Jackson said Zoo To You receives wild animals from unusual places.

For instance, Spike, a 50-pound alligator, was recovered by the FBI following a raid in a Los Angeles County drug house. The alligator was found swimming in the filthy water of a bathtub.

Otherwise, animals come to the center from fish and game departments throughout the nation. Often they cannot be placed anywhere else, due to injuries.

The newest addition to Jackson's show is a bald eagle that was blinded after being shot in the face by a hunter. The bird will make its debut at a Paso Robles school today, she said.

``We're not in the business of putting animals in cages. We're in the business of education,'' she said. ``The eagle is something most kids will never see.''

Jackson said a study called ``Live vs. Dry,'' conducted in 1978 by the Mystic Marine Aquarium in Connecticut, showed that children will retain 50 percent of a lesson if it involves a live animal. They retain 90 percent if they can touch the animal.

Mazzagetti, who has volunteered with Zoo To You for two years, said the school visits are also a learning experience for her.

``We begin to take for granted what we're holding,'' she said. ``The kids are so amazing when they see these animals. You come back to reality. You realize, this is not a dog.''

As children left the cafetorium after the show, they were allowed to pet the python. Kindergarten teacher Sandi Cantor urged the children to remember the physical and emotional experience of touching something rare and exotic.

``The most important things for kids is experiences. When you start with experiences, it makes learning more meaningful,'' she said. ``The real thing is the best thing.''

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3 Photos

PHOTO (1--color in Simi edition only) Parkview Elementary School pupils and staff hold a python, Cujo, from the Zoo To You program at the Simi Valley campus Monday.

(2--3--color--ran in Simi edition only) Kids react to the creatures, including Bob, a Louisiana gator. An African kinkajou, Brazilian parrot and other exotic critters were presented to the children.

Tina Gerson/Daily News