Things are about to get a lot more lively at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
The cultural institution best known for its collection of mummies, fossils and dinosaur bones is bringing in live animals for its new “Lizards & Snakes” exhibit, which opens today. Free with regular museum admission, “Lizards & Snakes” includes 60 live animals representing 26 species — everything from a 4-inch tropical girdled lizard to a 14-foot Burmese python.
“They’re all animals you would not find (in Colorado),” says public relations coordinator Charlotte Hurley. “You go to the zoo, and you can see a lot of snakes and lizards that you can find in your backyard because they want to make you aware of what you are living with.
“We’re displaying animals from Africa and Australia to show you the diversity of the species.”
Featuring live animals from five continents, including chameleons, iguanas, geckos, cobras and vipers, the traveling exhibit — which was put together by the American Museum of Natural History in New York — showcases the adaptations lizards and snakes have made to survive.
It’s pretty cool stuff, too: camouflage, projectile tongues and deadly venom.
Interactive stations allow visitors to touch animal skins and skulls, watch footage of lizards and snakes in the wild and try to lift a life-size model of an anaconda.
As it usually does with traveling exhibitions, the museum has put its own spin on “Lizards & Snakes,” adding a 17-foot-long anaconda skin, an hourly multimedia, kid-friendly live performance, a green screen that lets visitors pose for a virtual digital photo with a friendly boa constrictor and a collection of confiscated items — such as purses, wallets, jackets and boots — made from lizard and snake skin.
“The Rocky Mountain Arsenal actually has the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Property Repository for the whole country, so when someone tries to import items into the country that don’t have the proper permitting or are just plain illegal, those items get confiscated and brought here to Denver,” says museum educator Brian Hostetler. “They’ve loaned us a number of items, and there are some interesting things.
“We have some boots that are made of illegal python skin, but they’ve tried to cover it by covering the python with cheap leather, and then when it gets to the States they cut the cheap leather off.”
Among the special programs planned in conjunction with the exhibit are a “Slithering Spring Break” (March 24-April 1), featuring activities such as snake crafts, a snake obstacle course and live snake presentations; a special Valentine’s Day edition of the museum’s young-adult-targeted Science Lounge series (Feb. 19), which explores reptile mating rituals; and a new 3-D IMAX film, “Flying Monsters,” which chronicles the prehistoric ancestors of lizards and snakes.
And don’t worry if you’re afraid of snakes — one of the functions of the exhibit is to counter public perception of the slithery creatures.
“Some people are freaked out about snakes — it’s a common phobia,” Hostetler says. “One great thing about this exhibit is that they’re going to find ways to realize they aren’t that bad.
“They may not have legs, and they may not have skin like ours, but they’re not slimy, they’re not gross, they actually smell pretty good, considering, and they’re good for the world. They eat rats, they eat bugs — all the things that we don’t want to deal with, they love, so it works out well.
“They’re also a fascinating family of animals,” he said. “There are so many adaptations, there are so many things that they can do, and there are things we can learn from them, which is all stuff that works in their favor. We do understand that people might be a little afraid, but we’re hoping we can change that.”
“LIZARD & SNAKES.” The new exhibit opens today and runs through July 8, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd. Free with regular museum admission, which is $8-$12. SCFD free days during the exhibit’s run are Feb. 27, April 22, May 6, June 17 and July 2. More information: 303-370-6000 or
