Kids are fascinated by bugs. And what better place to find bugs than Tifft Nature Preserve? On Saturday, July 13 at Tifft Nature Preserve (1200 Fuhrmann Blvd., Buffalo), families are invited to participate in Insectival!, hosted at Buffalo’s 264-acre urban wetland preserve. The event will take place from 10am to 2pm.
If you have never been to Tifft Nature Preserve, you don’t know what you’re missing. This is one of the greatest, most inspiration places in all of Buffalo. With five miles of beautiful nature trails, loaded with marshes and woods, and all of the creatures that live in the habitats. There’s a bat cloud, and a beaver lodge… and if you’re lucky you might even spot a screech owl! Hopefully the honeybees will be in their new home…
Insectival! planned activities include:
· Insectival themed crafts for children including creating a grasshopper or spider mask, bug hotel, recycled magazine butterfly magnet, and natural materials dragonfly
· Sweep-netting for insects on the grassy mounds across from the Visitor’s Center.
· Learn how the Smokey Winged Beetle Bandit can assist in detecting the invasive insect, Emerald Ash Borer, with Cornell Cooperative Extension
· Eating edible insects like freeze-dried cheddar flavored mealworms and chocolate covered ants!
· An “Insectigation” Station featuring insect specimens from the education collection of the Buffalo Museum of Science.
· Madagascar Hissing Cockroach races
· Live insects and kin
· Aquatic insect exploration at the 75-acre cattail marsh
· Learning about the importance of honeybees and the challenges they face
· Interesting facts about the 17-year cicadas of 2013
*The fee to participate is $5 per person and members of the Buffalo Museum of Science save 10%. Pre-registration is required. For more information or to register, please call 716-825-6397.