Linda Wilson wrote:

>"...as more reproductions are being used instead of these biofacts,
>are we losing something basic?  There are good reasons for using
>reproductions in some cases, but is there a point where we are no
>longer providing contact with the real?"

Oh dear...my least favorite question...most often heard from children
but occasionally from adults as well:

     "Is THAT real?"

I'm always tempted to answer, "Why yes, it's real, it's not a figment
of your imagination at all! It's (real plastic), (really dead),
(really alive)."

Of course what the questioner is REALLY asking is, "Is it alive?" I
once found myself explaining (*very* seriously) that we were not in
the habit of putting water dishes in cages which housed replicas!
!LOL!

The nature center where I work has living animals, biofacts and
replicas. A very non-scientific approach to monitoring public
interest in these exhibits reveals to me that:

1) living animals are of the greatest interest to visitors
(particularly when they are able to touch the animal or view it out
of its cage),
2) biofacts are of interest IF they can be handled and examined
closely (mounts out of reach on walls are rarely commented on),
3) replicas are of interest IF they have some instructive or
interpretive value, can be "played" with or are of animals which NO
ONE would dream of handling if they were alive (e.g. venomous snakes).


I believe that our center would be lessened if any of these types of
exhibits were removed. For instance, some things just work better
when they're plastic. Sometimes the "original" is cost prohibitive or
unavailable because it's protected by law. In some cases we exhibit
replicas because housing the live animal would be too dangerous or
would require space which we don't have available.

As for travelling exhibits...it seems to me that travelling with a
bucket (and a bubbler that will run off a car lighter) full of small
tidal pool animals (inverts primarily) should be pretty easy to do.
Take a ten gallon aquarium to which the animals can be transferred
after you've arrived at your destination. Kids really love tiny
animals (in my experience) and tidal pool animals have the best
tolerance limits for variations in oxygen, salinity and temperature,
so should survive the stresses of being moved about and handled
pretty well.

I won't comment on the philosophical questions because they must be
answered by the staff and management of your particular organization.
I like to think that my wildlife ethic is "under construction";
people who have absolute values regarding wildlife tend to make me
nervous as they are invariably intolerant of anyone whose value
system varies even slightly from their own.

Rhea Tannenbaum
Exhibits Coordinator
Gumbo Limbo Nature Center
Boca Raton, FL
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____
RheaT