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There are no "Don't Feed the Animals" signs posted at the North Museum's new exhibit opening this weekend.
But chances are, they won't be needed.
The animals that will be visiting are leeches and mosquitoes — and you know what they eat, don't you?
Beginning Saturday, "The Attack of the Bloodsuckers" (eew!) creepy-crawls through the museum's first floor with hands-on and interactive displays, games and, yes, live specimens.
Sit on the lap of Ms. Phillipa, a giant inflatable tick, and you may become her next meal...
Play a rousing game of TwITCHer, a blood-sucking version of Twister, where players have to put their appendages on lice, tics and other creepy critters...
Measure the carbon dioxide in your own breath to see what mosquitoes use to find you...
Find out if your smelly feet are giving you away to local parasites...
And maybe most importantly, learn why maybe, just maybe, bloodsuckers DO have a place in this world.
"This is a gross-out exhibit, but that's what makes it so fun," says Sarah Clarke, the museum's program manager.
"It's a really family-centered exhibit," she adds. "There really is something here for everyone in the family."
Well, everyone who isn't terrified of creepy-crawlers, that is.
But even for those timid souls who like their lives Lysol-disinfected, Clarke reminds us that the exhibit is a great chance to examine creatures in a safe environment.
"Let's face it," she says. "If you'd get a leech on you in a local creek, you wouldn't stand around and examine it. You'd probably shake it off as quickly as you could." (Think Humphrey Bogart in "The African Queen.")
Here, she says, you can examine them up close and personal, and still be safe.
"It's really not that bad," she says. "It's not like we're telling people to stick their arms in a leech tank."
The leeches you'll find at the museum are European medicinal (yes, medicinal) leeches, much larger cousins of our local varieties.
At about two inches now, the creatures are still relatively small, as a full-grown European medicinal leech can pass the seven-inch mark.
"Probably the ickiest-slash-coolest part of the exhibit are the live mosquitoes and leeches," Clarke says.
"We have a pill bottle of mosquito eggs and there are thousands upon thousands of mosquitoes in there."
Feeding time at the leech pen is always exciting.
"We feed them blood, cattle blood," she says. "That was probably the hardest part of this exhibit, getting the blood. We made a lot of phone calls."
If real-life creatures leave you a bit squeamish, the exhibit also features "stuffed" animal specimens that used to enjoy a little "liquid" refreshment in their heyday.
A vampire bat and sea lamprey will be displayed, as well as portraits of a vampire moth, vampire fish and a blood-sucking bird species from Galapagos.
"Basically the exhibit talks about the bloodsuckers and their place in ecology," Clarke says.
But it does so in a very kid-focused way.
"You know, we have a lot of people who go downstairs to the look at the mounted birds and animals, but other people want to be more interactive.
"We look for a variety of exhibits on a wide range of topics. And we try to approach learning by reaching those with all different styles of learning."
"Attack of the Bloodsuckers" ought to appeal to all those folks out there who are just itchin' to learn.
"Attack of the Bloodsuckers"
Opens Sat. Cont. through Jan. 21
Included with reg. admission:
$7 adults, $6 seniors and kids 3-12
North Museum of
Natural History & Science
400 College Ave. 291-3941
www.northmuseum.org.
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