On March 27, the SCR second grade finally took their last field trip. They’ve done so much this year: multiple visits to Sunrise and a trip to the Insectarium. Lots of fun. But this one was my favorite: we went to the Insta-Gator Ranch and Hatchery in Covington.
We met at school that Tuesday morning and then made the trek across the Causeway. The kids and teachers rode on a bus, and all of the parents followed along behind them. Everyone was excited for a really fun day.
When we arrived, we gathered in the picnic area and were told what the schedule was for the day. Ms. Paulin’s class went on the tour first while Ms. Cobb’s class got to play in the open field. Our guide Joe walked us over to the theater area and the kids settled in for some gator education.
We all learned a lot, including the fact that all gators are born in the month of August and that they’re not really aggressive, unless it’s a mama gator defending her nest. Joe (and Alex) also introduced us to Red Beans and Rice, two baby gators that were born on site. So very cool.
Next we moved over to another area and talked more about nest collection. Then we divided into two smaller groups. Riley’s group got to go into a little building housing lots of gators of various ages and feed them marshmallows. Joe got into one of the enclosures and selected one of the gators for us to see more closely back outside.
Joe switched off with Alex, who handled the bigger gator (whose mouth was taped shut, btw) and showed us his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. We got to touch him (even his teeth!) and see how his back and his belly felt. Riley got really freaked out at this point, even though I told him there was no way he could get hurt. I don’t think he ever touched the big gator at all.
Then Alex walked over to the grass, put the gator down, and let him walk around. We saw him jump up and also observed what happened when Alex picked him back up and turned him upside down onto his back (stuns them a bit and makes them dizzy).
The next part was the best: the catch pool. We gathered around a raised, shallow pool filled with baby gators. We spent about 10 minutes holding them. It was so cool! And Riley did not hesitate one bit in picking the little ones up. I was so proud of him.
Once we were done at the catch pool, our gator time was up. We took a class photo and then went back out to the picnic area and had lunch. Ms. Cobb’s class joined us about 20 minutes later. The kids had a great time eating and playing before getting back on the bus. Plus, Dana, Jake, and I decided we had just enough time to stop off at Chimes for drinks and snacks before heading back across the lake to pick up all of our kids from school for the day. Winning.
What a great day. I’m so glad I get to do these things with my boys. Rory’s one and only field trip is coming up next week: we’re going to the zoo!
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