WARNING: the picture below may be disturbing to some -- you have been warned
This was our first time to attend as a family, although I remember being there back when I was a wee lad. Can't remember though if it was something Dad and Mom took us to, or whether it was a school field trip.
Either way, it was a cool opportunity to get back and visit a really neat place.
Some highlights and observations....
- FREE ADMISSION; whoop whoop!
- the girls got to pet lots of dogs, a couple snakes and a hedgehog; they thought having to sanitize after each one was very tiring
- I got to hold a very large macaw; he was talking to me; I believe he said "yes, I know I stink"
- every single vet student that we met was so kind, cheery and helpful; you could tell that they really, really enjoyed having families visit "their turf" and showing off their building, projects, clubs and animals
- the two-headed calf specimen amazed me (WARNING: here's the picture):
- there was also a cyclops piglet (our oldest saw it, I did not)
- something else I didn't see (but my wife and 2 of my girls did) was the fistulated cow; what is that you ask? a cow with an observation window in its side so that students can see hay/cud churning around in the cow's tummy; this is the single-most coolest thing I remember from my visit back when I was a kid; I hope it made the same impression on them
- there was a female vet student holding a snake; 'nuff said
- Nokomis the Owl was awesome!
- learned an owl's favorite prey is the skunk..... REALLY?
- we came home with a pair of $5 U of I scrubs; best buy I've made in some time
- the girls loved the saltwater aquarium; I believe they identified just about every type of fish from Finding Nemo
- we learned that you should not comfort a dog who is scared of fireworks or thunder; rather, you should distract the dog by playing fetch or feeding him
- the facepainting was a big hit
- the number of female vet students compared to male vet students seemed overwhelming; maybe the guys are shy? or hate kids?
- each of the vet students was wearing an ID badge with name and graduation year/class; while waiting for the girls to get their faces painted, I asked why I wasn't seeing any Seniors (class of 2014); reason: most of them are assigned off-campus right now doing their training with hospitals and vet offices
- our youngest 2 were fascinated by the variety of combination locks used by the students on their lockers
- we didn't get to see the sheep-shearing or the underwater rehab treadmill.... maybe next year!!
And before we headed home, we had lunch at our favorite Champaign food joint.....
Yeah, the weenie hut!
Out for now.....
Matt