Last month for my article I took a trip to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and wrote about my visit. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed getting to take an afternoon away from school, baseball, and other responsibilities to learn what the museum had to offer me. As a result, I decided to do it again this month at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. My pal Merkle and I took the afternoon and headed down Riverside Drive to see what the Natural Science Museum had in store, and we were not disappointed!
My trip to the Natural Science Museum was overall very entertaining and educational. The first thing you see when you walk in is a giant fossil of an ice age elephant-like creature that was found in Mississippi. There were countless other bones and fossils that people had discovered in Mississippi too. It was cool to see these and imagine what life was like before humans. The museum was loaded with interesting taxidermy depicting Mississippi wildlife: life-like black bears, panthers, deer, and other animals…that I probably would only want to see in a museum. There were various other educational exhibits explaining Mississippi’s efforts to conserve the natural beauty of the state and keep the native species safe. Lastly in the non-live exhibits were replicas of fish up to 9 feet long in size!
There were some really cool live aquatic exhibits in this museum. The first one we saw was a baby alligator being taken care of by a worker, and as we proceeded through the museum, there were various aquatic ecosystems containing fish, turtles, and other water animals. I enjoyed these exhibits because of the labels on the sides of the tanks that identify the species in the water. This was great to identify species that I had never seen before, like a siren and a manta ray. There were definitely some unsettling animals at this museum though. First on my list is a two headed snake that has been there since 2003. Then, a rattlesnake that I swear weighed more than me. I do not care for snakes, but I was forced to sit there and stare at the two headed beast, just for the sake of being able to write about it. The rattlesnake stared at me with evil eyes as if it could sense my fear. I am not a fan. There were also catfish that could have eaten me if they had managed to escape. My friends make fun of me, but big bodies of water at night are one of my greatest fears, so some of these creatures will probably make their way into my nightmares.
My favorite part of this museum was the turtles. There were so many of them: baby turtles, giant turtles, families of turtles, turtles on alligators, turtles on top of turtles. There was even a log in one of the exhibits with a large turtle sitting on top of it. There was a smaller turtle on top of the larger turtle’s shell, and two smaller ones on top of that! It may have been the most tender thing I had ever seen. There are also scenic walking trails behind the museum and kid-friendly aspects like interactive exhibits, a maze, and a playground. Overall, my experience at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science was very wholesome and educational. It was nice to learn about Mississippi wildlife and the efforts to conserve it, while also getting to study native Mississippi animals and their habitats. If you ever need to kill an hour or two during the day, or just need to relieve a little stress, definitely go check it out! The admission is only $6, and it will be well worth your time!