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A Kid's-eye View of Squam Lakes Natural Science Center

© Christina Coruth

It's summertime and the kids are home from school. As eagerly as they had anticipated summer vacation, it's not long before those long, lazy summer days produce the children's lament of summer heard down through the generations - "I'm bored, there's nothing to do."

It's time to head for the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, which is centrally located in Holderness, New Hampshire. This 200-acre wildlife center is adjacent to Squam Lake, home to the film On Golden Pond. Trails lead to natural habitat enclosures. Children of all ages will be enthralled with these animal exhibits, such as the black bear and the raptor exhibits. The Gordon's Activity center teaches children about nature in the way they love best - up close and hands-on.

This sounds educational. Is it really interesting? Will kids really enjoy it? To answer these questions, I (AKA Nana) interviewed an expert who has visited the Center and happens to be a kid, too. My grandson, Zach, visited the Center with his class. He brought a photographer with him - okay, it was his Mom. On to the Squam Lakes Science Center - through the eyes of a seven-year-old boy:

Nana: What is the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center?
Zach: It's a Science Center and also it's where you can have lunch.

The Auditorium

Nana: What was your favorite thing?
Zach: I love the porcupine. It's so cool. Jenn (the naturalist) took a paper card and blew it on the porcupine's back and then quills started to go (stand) up.

Nana: Why do the porcupine's quills stand up?
Zach: So it can protect itself from other animals who try to kill it. But the animal that can kill a porcupine is a fisher cat. It runs around and around the porcupine until the porcupine gets tired. Then the fisher cat flips it over on its back so it can kill it.

If you get a quill stuck in your hand, you want to rip it out because it keeps going deeper into you. It sucks the moisture from our body and that helps it get farther into your hand. It goes in an inch every 24 hours.

Porcupines give birth to living baby porcupines. It gives birth to one at a time.

Nana: What else did you see there?
Zach: An owl and a wood turtle. A wood turtle is a real live turtle but it looks like its shell is made out of wood, but it's not. And there was picture of a stink turtle. It really stinks.

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