Medfielders meet baby animals at library

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By Amelia Tarallo
Hometown Weekly

Kids coming to the Medfield Library on June 18 were ecstatic to meet some new friends.

Downstairs, the community room was filled with a menagerie of different species of baby animals. There was plenty of joy and laughter with two different groups of kids coming into the room, each child with his or her own wishes to pet a certain animal.

For an hour, the space was turned into a temporary petting zoo.

In one corner of the room was a baby pen inhabited by two chihuahua puppies, who barked in excitement as children climbed in with them.

Baby ducks that could not be picked up but rather gently petted were in a cardboard box, chirping as they received attention.

A baby goat was too nervous for petting, taking refuge underneath a chair, all while bleating at the excitement in the room.

“Do you want to hold a bunny?” one of the animal handlers asked. A toddler nodded his head as the handler carefully passed the baby bunny, swaddled in a blanket. As they were being cuddled, some of the kits took the opportunity to take short naps, much to the joy of the children holding them. “Look how cute he is!” exclaimed one girl as she held up her drowsy bunny.

“I don’t really care about his name. I care that he likes to cuddle,” explained one child as a baby pig snuggled right into his lap. The little black pig’s name was Snorting Norton. Norton enjoyed being brushed and scratching his back, squealing in delight when one child took the time to give him a belly rub.

The trio of kittens in the opposite corner of the room had children lining up to join them in their pen. Cora, age 5, was delighted when one of the kittens became enamored with a zipper on her rain jacket. The tiny kitten tried his best to climb up the girl and swat the zipper with his paw, only to be picked up before succeeding. By the end of the second session, all three kittens were tired and napping.

Perhaps the most unexpected animal was a white rooster, swaddled in a blanket. “He looks like Heihei,” observed one girl, referencing the silly chicken from the movie “Moana.”

“I think that’s his name,” replied her mom as she snapped a picture of her daughter holding the friendly fowl.

As the last session ended, every kid was a bit sad to leave their new baby animal friends for the day.

The animals, meanwhile, were left happy and tired from all the attention they had received. They slept peacefully, recharging for their next day.