Alpacas in the library, ball pythons amongst the books- zoo visits Dartmouth libraries
Aubrey stares lovingly at the alpaca. Photos by Kat Sheridan
Sarvana pets his favorite animal of the day. 
A child was less than enthused by the python. 
Nevin pets the alpaca. 
A squirrel monkey stares curiously at the camera. 
Some children were quite surprised by Chomper. 
Many children had to cover their ears when the macaw came out. 
Ozzy the skunk. 
The first animal out was a tortoise. 
Varenya, 10, pets Rosie. 
The python was quite large. 
The ball python was much smaller. 
The monkey enjoyed some craisins. 
Bob the alligator. 
The macaw decides whether or not to squawk.
This kid showed love to the python with heart hands. 
Rosie the alpaca waits patiently for her turn.
Aubrey stares lovingly at the alpaca. Photos by Kat Sheridan
Sarvana pets his favorite animal of the day.
A child was less than enthused by the python.
Nevin pets the alpaca.
A squirrel monkey stares curiously at the camera.
Some children were quite surprised by Chomper.
Many children had to cover their ears when the macaw came out.
Ozzy the skunk.
The first animal out was a tortoise.
Varenya, 10, pets Rosie.
The python was quite large.
The ball python was much smaller.
The monkey enjoyed some craisins.
Bob the alligator.
The macaw decides whether or not to squawk.
This kid showed love to the python with heart hands.
Rosie the alpaca waits patiently for her turn.
Birds, reptiles and mammals in the library, oh my! Seven species of animals showed up to the Dartmouth libraries to teach kids about animals during the Records and Burpee Zoo Show on Tuesday, June 30.
“This is a great way of seeing [animals] in a different setting and you can kind of appreciate it,” said Lee Burpee, one of the animal handlers and Zoo Show owners.
Both locations welcomed the zoo, with the Southworth Library getting over 60 kids and the North Branch having almost 30 kids.
The animals are owned by Burpee and Larry Records, who own and operate Records and Burpee farm in Dudley. They have over 100 animals, which they bring for shows around the state.
“I think there’s so many kids that have no connection with animals nowadays,” said Burpee, “So I think it’s great for them to be able to see them up close.”
They run two types of shows: a petting zoo with animals like goats, alpacas and cows and a show featuring a number of exotic animals kids may not see often.
“I think you can read about [exotic animals] in books and that’s great, but seeing them in person can really just spark something,” Burpee said.
Burpee said she started the shows because when she was in second grade, someone brought a lion cub to her classroom.
“I blame that guy from the zoo in Minnesota for doing that because that just ‘Pop!’ clicked in my head,” said Burpee.
The show started out with a Sulcata tortoise, the third largest species of tortoise in the world. The kids “ooh-ed” and “aah-ed” at the slow and gentle nature of the herbivore.
There were lots of surprised yells when Rosie the alpaca entered the room. The domesticated species’ wool continually grows, and she recently got shorn. Regardless, kids got to feel how soft she was.
While some kids were nervous Rosie could spit at them, Larry explained that only llamas spit.
Varenya, 9, said the show was “awesome” and that the alpaca was her favorite.
The striped skunk Ozzy got nervous “eews” mixed with “awws” from the audience. However, she has been de-scented, as she was born and raised at a zoo.
Lee showed how skunks are not good pets, with long claws to burrow for food that could easily destroy a carpet.
The noise level rose when a green-winged macaw entered the room. Every time she screeched, the kids loudly laughed, encouraging further squawking. When she left the room, the kids yelled goodbye, as the bird species can repeat human words.
The two alligators Chomper and Bob got the most fearful reaction, with kids yelling in fear at their presence. The two that were brought in were only about two-feet long, although they can grow to be 16-feet long.
Alligators can be dangerous and should be avoided, Burpee explained. She said while she loves Chomper, he would love to take a chomp from her.
The next animal was one Burpee didn’t originally want to adopt, but eventually did. This was a squirrel monkey, who was bought as an illegal pet before being saved by the farm. Kids were very excited by the tiny monkey.
Burpee asked that the kids say “aww” to the sixth animal just as they would a kitten or a puppy. She showed them a ball python, which is a typical pet snake.
The last animal was another form of python, an albino burmese python. Kids were quite excited to see the large snake, although they shied away from the tongue.
Many kids flocked to pet the burmese python at the end of the show, petting the 10-foot long body as Burpee held the head.
“I wanted to touch the animals,” said Sarvana, 7, whose favorite was the albino python. He did wish they brought a spider though.
