New for 2013!
Please join us on the second Monday of each month for crafts, games, songs, and stories about the animals that live in our Wild Wonders Wildlife Park.
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
$6 per child, $3 each additional child
REGISTRATION REQUIRED, NO DROP-OFFS
Please call 517-546-0249 to save your place.
April 8 – Meet Wapi the Beaver
Wapi was flown to the HNC from Boise, Idaho, in May 2009. He was living along the Boise River and cutting down trees in a wealthy neighborhood. After being mauled by a dog and shot in the head, Wapi was sent to a local wildlife rehabilitator. He was still recovering when he was flown to us. The bite wounds healed, but the two fragmented bulltes still remain in his head, which have caused vision problems.
“Wapi” is a Native American word that means “lucky.”
PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE!-May 20-Backyard Critters-PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE!
Meet Alvin, Simon, and Theodore the Flying Squirrels, plus Barney the Box Turtle and Rex the Rabbit!
Spend the morning exploring Alexandria’s Naturescape and learning about the wildlife you can find in your own backyard.
June 3-Little Critters Picnic
Celebrate the first season of Little Critters with an exciting ride on the Howell Nature Center’s very own Spirit of Alexandria Nature Bus. Sing songs and meet a special wildlife guest while touring the gournds of the Nature Center. Bring along a sack lunch, and we’ll finish our celebration with a good old-fashioned picnic!
Previously featured animals:
January 14 – Dorsey the Porcupine!
Dorsey came to Wild Wonders in November 2009. Her mother was shot in the western Upper Peninsula when she was just two weeks old. She was taken to a local rehabilitator, who did not have another porcupine with whom to raise her. Consequently, Dorsey bonded with the rehabber and became tame. Nature Center staff met the rehabber at the Mackinac Bridge and brought her home to Wild Wonders.
In 2012, Dorsey was the mascot for the 2012 Save the Wildlife 5K.
February 11 – Woody, Michigan’s Official Groundhog!
Please join us for games, crafts, songs and stories about Woody, Michigan’s Official Groundhog (aka Woodchuck).
Woody came to the Nature Center in June of 1998 after her mother was shot by a farmer. Little Woody was the only juvenile to emerge from the burrow. The farmer’s wife took Woody in and cared for her a little too long. Woody became tame in her care and was brought to the Howell Nature Center at seven weeks of age.
Woody serves as Michigan’s Official Groundhog every February 2, making her prediction as to whether there will be six more weeks of winter or an early spring. In 2013, she predicted an early spring! Let’s hope she’s correct!
March 11 -Kili the Bald Eagle!
Kili was just a nestling in March 2009 when his nest was blown down in a storm near Saginaw. His sibling was unharmed and placed in a surrogate eagle’s nest. Kili suffered a wing injury in the fall and Michigan State University had to amputate at the wrist. Knowing he would never return to the wild, he was intentionally imprinted on humans to make him a better educational bird. The Michigan United Conservation Club (MUCC) used him for the next 12 years in educational programs and later donated him to the Howell Nature Center.