Show and tell around the globe
A month ago a story popped up on my Facebook timeline from a friend in Australia. It’s the rainy season there and that means saltwater crocodiles are on the move. Parks and Wildlife rangers had trapped a 3.92-meter (that’s almost 13 feet) saltwater crocodile near the town of Katherine.
I guess you could say croc season is like their rattlesnake season here. One misstep and it could spell a bad day for all.
Now, what makes the story all the more significant is that instead of harvesting the croc, the rangers secured the live animal with duct tape and burlap, strapped it to a flatbed trailer, and towed it to the local primary school for a quick safety lesson to the kiddos.
I’m pretty sure this wasn’t in the teacher’s lesson plan for that day. However, you don’t waste an opportunity for a safety demo when one presents itself.
Curious kids can be in danger of crocodile attacks, and especially so since they live near a river that crocs like to use as a highway. And by showing the kids just what could be lurking under the water the adults were hoping to impress upon them the need to be aware of their surroundings while out playing with their friends. The kids had a chance to touch the crocodile and see the animal up close, too, making this an impromptu hands-on science experiment.
Oh look, it did turn out to be in the lesson plan after all.
You know, when I was in school our safety days were rather boring in comparison. Usually the local fire chief came by for the annual “STOP, Drop and Roll” seminar and handed out plastic firemen’s hats. Maybe our Chief of Police came in with a “Don’t Do Drugs” or “Stranger Danger” lecture toward the end of the semesters before breaks. But no crocodiles, trust me, I would have remembered.
The wildest Show and Tell Day I contributed to was the time my dad loaded my black Angus bucket calf “Black Knight” into a stock trailer for a 30-mile ride into town so that my third grade class could pet him for 15 minutes.
Looking back, now, I understand why my teachers got eye twitches and anxiety around Show and Tell Day.
Once unloaded, “BK” proceeded to suck on a townie kid’s fingers, which in the days before hand sanitizer then necessitated a hand washing lecture from our teacher. Then, three townies walked through BK’s site-specific nutrient applications he left on the playground. Which led to a lesson on fertilizer and how plants grow from my dad.
Everything was going great until one smart aleck in the back asked Dad what do we do with BK when he gets bigger. My father, matter-of-factly then proceeded to explain where hamburger comes from. In great detail.
I just wish Show and Tell had been after lunch. Cheeseburger day in the cafeteria was never the same for the townies after that.
No matter our place on the globe, one thing is common. Whether a bucket calf or a crocodile, anytime you can bring kids and animals together safely you contribute to an understanding about the animal kingdom and our place in it.
And that’s worth a trip to town.
Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached at 620-227-1807 or [email protected].
