Virginia Living Museum
Author: Amanda
Date: 2007-05-19 20:17:29
Country/State: Virginia, City: Newport News
Category: Nature
My kids just love this museum. It seems kind of funny to call it a museum because museums usually have deceased animals on display but this museum has live animals native to Virginia. So everytime I tell my son that we are going to the Living Museum I have to say the zoo and then he gets really excited. Many of the animals arrived at the museum because they were orphans, injured, or they were born in captivity. The museum is broken up in to different terrains: Virginia coastal plains, Virginia mountains, Virginia world of darkness, and Virginia underground cave galleries.
The best area for my children is the coastal plains exhibit area, which features a 30,000-gallon aquarium. There are sharks as well as many large fish and our favorite a sea turtle who likes to come close to the glass to look at you. That is when he isn't taking a nap in the corner.
In the four terrain exhibits inside the museum there are so many different animals such as owls, flying squirrels, alligators, jellyfish, snakes, ducks. There is another favorite for my family and it is the touch and feel tank exhibit where you can see and actually touch salt water hermit crabs and horseshoe crabs. Each time we visit I learn something new from the knowledgeable volunteers who really seem to enjoy what they do. They also have a bee hive contained in a clear box display that has a tube that allows the bees to leave the building and go outside to collect pollen and bring it back to the hive. This is very interesting to watch these hard workers moving all about.
When you are done visiting indoors you can step outside to the outdoor exhibit area which features a 3/4 mile boardwalk with very scenic views of even more Virginia wildlife. My favorite is watching the beavers hard at work building their dam. At the beginning of the boardwalk is a 5,500 squarefoot coastal plain aviary, which features approx. 16 different species of birds. On our last trip a duck landed on a railing right in front of my son, he was so excited.
Along the boardwalk you can look down and see many animals in their natural setting. Some of the animals are a skunk, deer, turkey, red fox, red wolf, opossum, bobcat and more. There are a few nice wooden benches along the boardwalk if you need to take a rest or just want to enjoy the scenery.
One reason I really like this museum is that it isn't like a lot of other zoo type facilities where you leave feeling bad for the animals, they seem to really take pride in keeping the animals in a natural setting. The museum also has a Abbitt Observatory, Planetarium (which is closed for renovation), and a Visiting Exhibit that changes every few months.
If you plan to visit there is a $1.00 off coupon good for up to 4 guest in the Newport News Visitors Guide www.newport-news.org. I live close enough to visit often so I decided to get a year membership for $60 and with each visit I can take 3 guest along also, so this was perfect for my family. The regular admission is $13 for adults and $10 for children 3 to 12 yrs old.
Virginia Living Museum: http://www.thevlm.org
Peninsula SPCA Exotic Sanctuary & Petting Zoo: http://www.peninsulaspca.com/zoo.html
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