Museum of Life + Science: Outside Part 1

Yesterday we went to the Museum of Life + Science (MLS) in Durham. The museum is one of our favorite places and affectionately known as "The Museum with Drums." This is not a place that you want to try to see all in one day. It is huge. And so, this will be the first of several posts about the MLS because we haven't even seen all of it yet.
Hours:
Monday - Saturday: 10am  - 5pm
Sunday: noon - 5pm

September 13-December 13 the museum is closed on Mondays.

Admission:
Adults 13 and up: $12.95
Seniors 65 and older and active military: $10.95
Children 3-12: $9.95
The MLS participates in the ASTC passport program, so members of the Museum or of another ASTC member institution get in free. Durham County Residents are also free Wednesdays after 1pm.

Train tickets are $2.75
Take off! bungee ride $5.00

Listen, Listen, Everyone!

Probably the first thing you notice when get out of your car at the museum is the sound of drums in the air. This is why Tot refers to this place as the "Museum with the Drums." When you exit the main building, in front of you is "Loblolly Park." Nestled amongst the namesake pines are all kinds of structures on which children play. There are two percussion areas set up with everything from steel drums, to fire extinguishers, to xylophone keys, to dustpans to play. There is a real caboose to climb inside, a sandbox to play archaeologist, a playground, and a water play area. One of the coolest things that we discovered this visit is in this area. It is a tall structure with various sized pipes. You put your ear up to the pipe and sound resonates at different frequencies for you to hear. If there is a gentle breeze, the music is amplified as the wind blows across the tops of the pipes.

Down on the Farm

Past Loblolly Park is the MLS farmyard. In the farmyard are potbellied pigs, bunnies, a muscovy duck, a steer, goats, sheep, a donkey, and a barred owl. At 4:30 each afternoon, keepers come to straighten up the farmyard and visitors have the opportunity to ask questions, learn about the animals, and even help out! Yesterday as we were leaving, a trainer was playing catch with Lightning, the donkey. Tot found Lightning's "target" -- a stick with a rubber ball on the end that he's trained to follow. The trainer showed us how Lightning follows his target.

Insectarium

One of the next things that you see as you follow the trail is the Insectarium. Inside the Insectarium are all kinds of insects and bugs. To the right, when you enter the building is the Magic Wings tropical butterfly house and open for the summer is the Summer Wings Carolina Butterfly Conservatory which houses butterflies and plants indigenous to the area. This exhibit highlights plants that you can use in your own backyard to attract butterflies to your home.
To the left is an exhibit that showcases the wonder of insects. Glass cases hold the biggest and smallest insects and insects that are masters of camouflage. There are frogs that eat insects. Spiders, millipedes, and other non-insect bugs highlight what makes and insect an insect. In addition, there are insect books and puzzles, and a microscope to get an up-close look at several different insect species. Tot did not want to leave this room. In fact, it took Mommy a lot of bargaining to get out of here.

Dinosaur Trail

The last part of the museum that we saw yesterday was the Dinosaur Trail. The Dinosaur Trail gives visitors a look at the dinosaurs of the cretaceous period. When Mommy was a kid dinosaurs were T-Rex, Brontosaurus, Triceratops, and the Jurassic Park came out and we were introduced to Velociraptors. The Dinosaur Trail features dinosaurs that I was only introduced to on PBS's Dinosaur Train; I guess dino knowledge has come a long way in the last 20 years because kids today are learning about Stygimoloch, Troadon, and other terrible lizards whose names are mouths full!

Keep an eye out for more about the Museum of Life + Science. There are two floors of indoor exhibits in the main building as well as Carolina Wildlife, and Catch the Wind outside.

Long day for a little dude!

North Carolina Museum of the Natural Sciences

Admission is free, though donations are encouraged. Parking is plentiful in paid lots across the street. We paid $2/hour. There is free on street parking, if you get there early enough to find a spot. I wouldn't count on it. 

Tuesday was Brother's first birthday so we decided to take the day off from unpacking and do something fun as a family that didn't involve thinking about how many boxes we had unpacked, how many boxes we need to unpack, or otherwise involved thinking about boxes. New town means lots of new places to visit and blog about, lucky you! So after some deliberation, we decided on the North Carolina Museum of the Natural Sciences.


Hours

Monday-Saturday: 9am - 5pm

Sunday: noon - 5 pm
First Fridays: On the first Friday of every month (except as noted) the Museum stays open until 9 pm.
Note: The Discovery Room, Naturalist Center and Living Conservatory are closed on Mondays and close at 3 during the week.

We arrived on the later side so we started at the top and worked our way down the museum's four floors. On the top floor is a butterfly exhibit that closes at three and we didn't want to miss that. The exhibit is a model of a tropical dry forest. A tropical dry forest is similar to a tropical rain forest, they both receive similar amounts of annual rainfall but dry forests experience dry and rainy seasons whereas rain forests are rainy year-round. In the exhibit are a number of different varieties of butterflies from Costa Rica as well as a sloth, a tarantula, and a milk snake (in separate enclosures within the exhibit). Also on the fourth floor are a number of other insects in the Arthropod Zoo and the Naturalist Center. The Naturalist Center is for children 8 and up, so we didn't get to go in, but it looked pretty cool. There were microscopes, and different animals and other natural items to look at and explore. Younger children can play in the Discovery Room on the second floor, but we were too late by the time we got there as they are only open 11 am to 3 pm on weekdays. I can't wait to go back and discover!

Mommy, don't take my picture!

The third floor was definitely a favorite! This is home to the dinosaurs. Mommy thought she was never going to get Tot and Brother out of the "Terror of the South" room. We had so much fun playing in the giant dino footprint we almost didn't want to leave to see the rest of the dinosaurs.

Also on the third floor is a snake exhibit (another one of Tot's favorites) and an exhibit depicting a mountain cove habitat. We had fun seeing how many animals we could pick out in the exhibit. The last exhibit on the third floor is the Tropical Connection exhibit which illustrates how we depend on tropical habitats every day even though we may never step foot in the tropics at all. Products as varied as coffee and aspirin have roots in the rainforest.

The second floor is home to the Mountains to the Sea exhibit. It illustrates the habitats across our state from the mountains to the piedmont to the coastal plain. The second floor also houses traveling exhibits and the Discovery Room which we can't wait to come back and visit. 

By the time we got to the first floor, we were exhausted and ready for a snack. So we didn't really have much of a chance to explore before the meltdowns began. The first floor has a Coastal NC exhibit and NC's Natural Treasures. Definitely a place we want to get back to when we have more time and energy to explore. Keep watching for another post with more info about the museum!

WNC Nature Center

Since it was an unseasonably cool day yesterday, we spent the afternoon at one of our favorite places, the WNC Nature Center. When the weather is nice, we visit the Nature Center at least once a a week. It's just a great place to walk around, burn off some energy, and learn about the wildlife indigenous to the Southern Appalachian region. The last two summers, we've attended camp at the Nature Center and had the privilege of meeting some of the animals up close and learning about a lot more about them.
Tot's favorite animals are the bears. There are two black bears at the Nature Center. Each day at 11:00 and 3:00 there is a special animal presentation. Today's presentation was about they keep the bears from getting bored. Bears are opportunistic feeders. They eat whatever is easily accessible and have some amazing senses to help them search out food. In captivity, food is supplied for them and they don't have to work for it so they can easily get bored. Today we got to see one way they keep the bears entertained. The keeper had two large cardboard boxes that he threw into the bears' pen. Inside each box was a frozen rainbow trout wrapped in brown paper. The bears had to sniff out the food and break open the box to get the trout. Ursa, the female, found the first trout and ran to her night house to eat in peace. This allows them to practice skills that are important in the wild but that they don't get to use in captivity. It also gave us a chance to see why it is so important to keep anything that wild bears might think is edible inside where they can't get to it.
The main areas at the nature center are Appalachian Station where they have reptiles, amphibians, insects, and spiders from the area as well as a touch table and two giant microscopes that kids can put various objects under to display on screens on the wall. Tot's favorite thing to look at is her hand. Brother has a ball touching the objects from the touch table; smooth and rough stones, wood, bone, snake skin, etc. We can easily spend an hour here looking at the snakes and longer if someone has one of them out to touch.

The otters are always a hit. Olive and Obi-Wan love to show off for visitors and Brother could sit and watch them swim all day. Tot's favorite is the otter slide.

The farm area and petting zoo. Usually you get to pet and even brush the goats, but today they had the sheep in the petting area instead so we got to experience something new. The petting area is open from10:00 - 12:30 and 1:30 - 4:00.

Then there is the predator walk with bobcats, cougars, wolves, foxes and coyotes. We don't often make it this far before Tot's tired and ready to go, though we do try to start here every once in a while.

Prices (discounts available for City of Asheville residents):
Adults: $8
Seniors (65+): $7
Children (3-15): $4
Under 3: Free
The WNC Nature Center participates in both the AZA and ASTC member reciprocal programs, so if you're a member of another AZA or ASTC facility you also get in free here!