Animal Program Lets Students Take a Walk on Wild Side

The children sitting in the Wilmington branch library squirmed when Jessica Torres, an instructor with Wildlife on Wheels, opened a plastic container that held a Mexican red-legged tarantula.

Six-year-old Rene Mascorro clutched his friend and said with a shiver: “They are going to get the spider.”

Torres plopped the brown and black arachnid onto her hand, parading it through the audience of about 60 children and parents who were at the library Wednesday for a special children’s program.

“This type of tarantula is more docile than other kinds of tarantulas,” Torres said calmly as the spider remained nearly motionless. “If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you.”

As she walked down the center aisle, some of the kids were brave enough to pet the long-haired beast. Others recoiled.

Wildlife on Wheels is a nonprofit organization based on a one-acre ranch in Sunland. Founded in 1985 by Mimi Wood-Harris, it brings exotic animals to schools, libraries and community centers to teach children about respecting nature. It also educates children about careers working with animals.

Torres told the children about the dedication needed to become a veterinarian, park warden, zookeeper, pet store owner or park ranger.

Then she showed the group a red-tailed hawk named Mariah. As she gently lifted the bird out of its cage, there was a buzz of wonderment as it looked around. The children learned about a bird’s digestive process when the hawk left a souvenir on the library carpet.

“When I was your age,” Torres told the children, “I never imagined I could hold a red-tailed hawk.”