It Started With an Egg

Kid-scaled and eco-friendly, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History brings children closer to California nature, wildlife and history.

On a recent rainy Sunday afternoon, hundreds of parents and children packed the museum’s auditorium as David and Anita Jackson of Paso Robles-based Zoo to You Wildlife Education brought out a Bengal tiger, a pair of monkeys and exotic birds and snakes.

As a 20-foot python was wrapped around the shoulders of an audience member and the Jacksons talked about the care and handling of these animals, the kids oohed, aahed and squirmed in their seats.

The Zoo to You program is one of the museum’s ongoing events that draw local residents and out-of-towners alike.

“It’s not TV; it’s not something behind a screen,” says Suzanne Farwell, public relations director for the 11-acre oak-shaded museum near Mission Creek. “It’s real; you can touch things. And the kids love the creek, the wooden bridge, the nature trail. It becomes an adventure for them.”

Situated in Mission Canyon behind the Old Mission, the city’s oldest museum is devoted to the preservation of the region’s flora, fauna and Native American culture. It features the 13,000-year-old Arlington Springs Woman (thought to be the oldest North American human remains), the world’s largest pygmy mammoth collection and a collection of Chumash Indian artifacts second in size only to the collection at the Smithsonian.

But don’t expect a daunting, dusty, mammoth-size building full of relics. Start your adventure by walking through the 72-foot blue-whale bones outside the museum’s entrance, then make your way into the 10 exhibit halls focusing on birds, mammals, marine life, reptiles and paleontology.

Relics and Artifacts of the Chumash People

The museum takes pains to appeal to the pint-sized set, and most dioramas have interactive sound or music controls.

On display in the Chumash Indian exhibit are relics and artifacts of the Chumash people, “the ones who make shell bead money.” The original Chumash homeland, first settled 13,000 years ago, consisted of 150 villages between Malibu and Paso Robles and on the northern Channel Islands.

A model of a California condor is shown swooping over a relief model of the Los Padres National Forest in the bird diversity hall. It was the study of birds, notably bird eggs, that led to the founding of the museum in 1916 by a former preacher from Ohio named William Leon Dawson. He was looking for a place to house his extensive collection of bird eggs and so established the Museum of Comparative Oology (the study of eggs).

In 1923, board members expanded the collection to include indigenous California plants and animals.

More than 2,000 moths and butterflies are on display in the plant and insect hall. Beginning May 26, a three-month live butterfly exhibit will feature painted ladies, zebra swallowtails, red admirals and monarchs in an outdoor pavilion. The exhibit will include a caterpillar hatchery, butterfly films and nectar-producing plants in a mini butterfly jungle.

On April 9, the museum will host “Reach for the Stars,” with astronomer David Levy speaking about discovering the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. The next Zoo to You event will be May 20 and will feature a sloth and other rain forest animals.

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* Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol Road, Santa Barbara. Mondays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays and holidays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Adults, $6; seniors and teens, $5; children, $4; admission is free on the last Sunday of every month. (805) 682-4711.