Reptiles: The Beautiful and the Deadly

Come see a tree-dwelling Veiled Chameleon with a tongue longer than its body! (Submitted photo)

The Springfield Science Museum will have the special exhibit Reptiles: The Beautiful and the Deadly, on view from January 15 through May 22, 2011. The world’s largest traveling reptile exhibition, Reptiles: The Beautiful and the Deadly is an interactive zoological exhibition bringing visitors face to face with living reptiles from around the world. Colorful lizards, bizarre turtles, deadly snakes, alligators and crocodiles are exhibited in naturalistic habitats.

Families will encounter a giant seven-foot Monitor Lizard, a strange-looking Alligator Snapping Turtle, a deadly Cobra, a tree-dwelling Veiled Chameleon with a tongue longer than its body, a Diamond-back Rattlesnake, a Gaboon Viper which has the longest fangs of any snake, and many more exotic reptiles from the four corners of the Earth.

The exhibition is loaded with stunning images, cool facts about reptiles, and plenty of hands-on action. A push of a button and “venom” drips from the tip of a model rattlesnake’s fang. At another interactive station a model viper skull opens and closes, exposing the long fangs and folding them against the roof of the mouth. You can also hear recorded crocodile “conversations” and learn what they mean. At other stations, children can flip boards and push buttons to discover interesting facts about these cold-blooded creatures.

This exhibit was created by Peeling Productions at Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. The Springfield showing of the exhibition is sponsored by United Bank.

The Springfield Museums are located on the Quadrangle at 21 Edwards Street in downtown Springfield. Free onsite parking is available in the Edwards Street parking lots. The Science Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is $12.50 for adults, $9 for seniors and college students, $6.50 for children 3-17, and free for children under three and museum members. Springfield residents receive free general admission with proof of address. The fee provides admission to all Springfield Museums. There is a special exhibition fee of $5 for all visitors age 3 and up to visit the Reptiles exhibit.

For information, call 413-263-6800 or visit www.springfieldmuseums.org.