What is the perfect way to tie our Summer Reading theme – “On your Mark, Get Set, READ!” – to the animal world?  With the classic race of the Tortoise and the Hare, of course!  Pamela Martin from the Kansas Wetlands Education Center brought along some fast and slow animal friends to our second Summer Reading program of summer.

55 KIDS packed the library and learned about local critters and their traits for survival. Did you know?? …while cottontail rabbits are born blind and furless, jackrabbits, or hares, are born with their eyes open, covered in fur and ready to live on their own just four days after birth!  Visiting the library were a box turtle, a snapping turtle, a rarely seen ‘pancake’ turtle, a lizard, and a rabbit. Plus, North America’s fastest land mammal, the antelope was represented (see photo). Kids got to pet the bunny, pass around a turtle shell, & examine some hatched turtle eggs. Thanks to Pam, the critters, & the KWEC for this awesome, educational program!