×

Kids get up-close view of wildlife ‘ambassadors’

Exhibitor Jean Cummings is shown with a little African fox.

LYNDEBOROUGH – Kindergartners at the Early Learning Center had a “wildlife encounter” on Monday, April 17.

The kindergartners met six of them, ranging from a “monster” lizard from Argentina to an African fox – the smallest fox in the world – to a tiny white African hedgehog, an Australian tree frog and a tiny chinchilla.

Only a domestic lop-eared rabbit named Daisy was familiar.

The presentation was made by Wildlife Encounters, which is based in Rochester. Speaker Jean Cummings, a retired biology teacher enjoying her second career, has been with the program since last summer.

The show, which travels throughout New England, uses animals that can’t be returned to the wild for various reasons, and which serve as “ambassadors,” teaching children about the natural world.

For more information, visit wildlifeencountersnh.com or call 923-1168.

– JESSIE SALISBURY