Really wild about creatures (From The Oxford Times)

Really wild about creatures

6:10pm Tuesday 24th April 2012 in Didcot

Youngsters got a chance to get up close to creatures that normally hide in trees and long grass.

As part of an Oxfordshire Goes Wild event, creatures including slow worms, newts, snakes, bats and owls were at the city’s Natural History Museum giving people a chance to learn all about them.

Frank Hansen, of Didcot, took his twin daughters Amber and Grace, eight, to two of the city’s museums, the Ashmolean and the Natural History Museum to help with a school project on Egypt.

But Mr Hansen and his twins, who attend Manor Primary School at Didcot, got slightly sidetracked and dropped in to meet some of the wildlife.

Mr Hansen said: “They were used to seeing slow worms because our cat keeps bringing them home.

“They are not slimy, but are really silky smooth. They love all animals and found it interesting.

“On the way home they said the Natural History Museum was definitely the best.”

Organised jointly by Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum and the Natural History Museum, the event was designed to enthuse people about wildlife.

Clare Mowbrey, of the conservation forum, said: “The main thing was to inspire people about local nature and wildlife, and hopefully they will go home and want to see more in Oxfordshire.”