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By Cameron Small
Hometown Weekly Intern
A mysterious table stands in the room with a white tablecloth draped over it. Sunlight streams in through the glass doors, casting shadows on boxes and crates stacked against a wall. One crate starts to shake.
Something is inside, something that wants to get out. The crate rattles again. Whatever was inside wants to get out. Badly. With a last ditch effort, the crate bursts open. An armored head pops out. A small child screams, either out of fear or excitement. Other children join in the scream-fest.
“Oh, come on, really? Maybe if that was a King Cobra…”
Meet Rick Roth, the creator of Creature Teachers. Creature Teachers is a company based out of Littleton, MA, focusing on animal education for children. The animals, rescues and born in captivity, are handled and lovingly cared for by Roth and his staff. For example, Sema got her name because she was previously owned by a woman who smoked. When Sema was rescued, she coughed to mimic her owner’s cough—Sema, being short for emphysema.
In his hour-long presentation, Roth introduced several animals to the children present at the Westwood Library last Thursday, August 4. Among, but not all of, the animals present were an umbrella cockatoo (named Sema), a chinchilla (named Stewart), a sugar glider, (named Gizmo) a Burmese python (named Victor), and a six-banded armadillo (named Doug).
Children who sat quietly and raised their hands to answer questions were allowed to volunteer to touch, pet, and hold the animals. One girl held Sema, and was allowed (by Sema) to pet her under the wing. One boy held a bowl for Stewart to take a dust bath in. Another girl got to pet Doug’s back and feel how hard it was. Roth taught that contrary to popular belief, an armadillo doesn’t actually have a shell on its back—instead, it is more like a rhinoceros, with many thick layers of skin. Six children helped hold Victor. Their favorite part was probably when they carried Victor up the aisle towards the squeamish adults in the back; the adults tried to put more distance between themselves and the floating serpent, held aloft by smiling children, Victor.
When not being shown to smiling, shrieking children, the animals seem to have it made. Creature Teachers has 96 acres of conservation land where they keep their ninety-one plus animals. There isn’t a whole lot of repeat of animals brought to a presentation, but Roth admits that they have a whole bird house, and several different sorts of frogs, snakes, turtles, and other common New England animals.
Westwood Library’s Children Librarian Hannah Gavalis loves when Roth comes because “He’s always so great with the kids.” So much so, in fact, that this is the second time this year Roth and Creature Teachers has made an appearance at the library. They were previously at the library in January or February of this year. Not only this, but Gavalis, who has worked at the library for three years, says that Creature Teachers has been coming for at least as long as she has worked there.
As of yet, Creature Teachers are not scheduled to appear at the Westwood Library again this year.
