Wildlife At The Museum

At the end of February, I paid a visit to the natural science museum. (I can't believe it was almost two months ago.) It was a nice experience, with lots of interesting things to see and was really impressed by how the exhibition has been designed. These exhibitions are for educational purposes, so finding the best way to catch the attention of people of all ages and also make them understand what they see is not easy.

So many times I get comments like "I've never been to a museum". These comments make me sad to be honest, as I know they are losing out. The good thing about life in my county is that visiting museums starts in school. Starting from a very young age, students are taken to museums and trust me, it's a fun activity.

Let's start with a hunter and a hunting dog, which may be disturbing for some, but they have their role and without them, the balance could suffer. Unfortunately culling is necessary.

This was a room set up to illustrate hunting life. Trophies on the wall, opposite to the hunter and the hunting dog.

What you see here is chamois, European wild cat, brown bear, wild boar and roe deer. You can find these animals in most of the European countries and most are protected. You can see them in zoos as well.

There was this thing I've never seen before. Each room had the way marked with a symbol related to the theme of the exhibition. This room was dedicated to scientific research, as you can see the microscope suggests that as well.

There were two types here. The brown ones on the left were Bechstein's bats, while the other on the right were greater horseshoe bats. Fancy names, isn't it?

Bechstein's bat is protected under the European Habitats Directive.

In the UK it is one of the region's rarest and most endangered species. It estimated that 21,600 individuals exist in the whole region, the true population size is difficult to estimate and three potential error sources have been identified in this estimate as such a range of 10,300 and 55,600 individuals is provided.[7] Woodlands containing it may be considered for notification as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and may attract a grant under Natural Englands Environmental Stewardship scheme. On the rare chance one is spotted in the wild, authorities suggest immediately reporting it to a local batgroup or the wildlife trust. source

I'm a brave person in general, but these bats ... I'd rather be a mile away from them to be honest. They say these are harmless to humans, but I still prefer to avoid them because even just looking at them made me feel uncomfortable. So I ran a search to see if they are as harmless as people and it turns out, it's better to stay away from them.

All healthy bats try to avoid humans by taking flight and are not purposely aggressive. Most bats are about the size of a mouse and use their small teeth and weak jaws to grind up insects. You should avoid handling bats because several species, such as the hoary and big brown bats, have large teeth that can puncture skin if they are handled improperly.

Less than one percent of the bat population contracts rabies, which is a much lower rate of incidence than other mammals. Still, you should not handle or disturb bats, especially those that are active and appear sick during daylight hours. All bat bites should be washed immediately with soap and water, and a physician should be consulted. source

Nothch-eared bat. I can't say I like this better though.

As this was a room dedicated to scientific research, there were microscopes available to use and samples to look at too. I was standing there smiling as I remembered the first time I used a microscope at the university of medicine and how fun it was. At that young age, getting a taste of what scientific research looks like was a lot of fun. Imagine how much fun schoolkids can have here.

Me thinking of fun while for some people this is everyday work 😬

I wish everyone would have access to such museums, from a very young age. Education is my country, university included to some degree. Access to library is also free and available for everyone. Some museums are free, others are not, but tickets are still affordable. This is how it should be and I hope each country can get to at last this level.

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