By Linda Girardi For The Beacon-News January 13, 2012 1:24PM
Lauren Grimm, volunteer for Animals for Awareness, of Palos Park, shows off Chili, a blue and gold macaw, during a well-attended presentation at the Hinckley Public Library on Friday, January 4, 2012.| Michele du Vair~For Sun-Times Media
storyidforme: 23637864 tmspicid: 8777785 fileheaderid: 3958639 Article Extras
Updated: January 16, 2012 11:47AM
HINCKLEY — For a group of young readers here, exotic animals have become much more than pictures in a book. The Animals for Awareness organization introduced a 5-foot-long alligator with scaly skin, a kinkajou that lives in the rain forest and a Canada lynx with ear tufts and bobbed tail to show youngsters at the Hinckley Public Library that some animals are better left in the wild.
“Alligators look real cute when they are little,” volunteer handler Lauren Grimm told her audience, holding a 10-month-old gator that came to the shelter last summer.
The youngsters screeched as the handler opened a black zipper sack and pulled a 5-foot-long, 21-year-old male alligator to the center floor. Grimm said the Aurora Police Department rescued the reptile when he was the size of the baby gator.
“The original owner had him as a pet in a small container and it stunted his growth. For his age, he should be 10 feet long,” Grimm said.
Grimm said the alligator is “easygoing” and climbs the stairs of the non-profit Palos Park shelter.
“Picture him in a swamp — he’s an ambush hunter that waits for his prey,” she said.
Grimm walked around the room with a 50-pound Burmese python.
“People think snakes are slimy, but the skin is actually pretty dry,” said 11-year-old Preston Brunoehler.
Preston’s sister said she thought it was “cool” to touch a snake. “I have actually wanted a lizard my whole entire life,” said 6-year-old Brooklyn Field.
The enormous ears of a fennec fox that lives in the desert were as impressive as the tail of the furry kinkajou and paws of the Canada lynx, which is an endangered species.
Grimm said the lynx was rescued from a fur farm.
“The lynx can jump eight feet and catch a bird mid-air,” she said.
Grimm said most of the exotic animals are acquired by the shelter as “give-ups” when people realize they can no longer care for them or they are rescued.
“All of these animals look very friendly, but they are not tame. People don’t realize these are not animals meant for the home,” she said.
Almost 100 children and adults attended the program.
“It’s always a surprise what species come in,” said Liz Kerlin, youth librarian. “This is a lesson that some animals are better left to the wild.”