Kids WOWed by Mobile Animal Show

Harry may have been the headlining hedgehog, but it was his cohort Helen who stole the show.

In a program designed to encourage children to read and to learn about animals, the Sunland-based Wildlife on Wheels brought its traveling animal show to the child-care center at Hubert H. Humphrey Memorial Park on Friday.

Jessica Torres, an instructor with WOW, told the group of about 25 children the story of “The Happy Hedgehog Band” and then brought the story alive with a demonstration featuring real-life versions of the animals depicted in the book.

Though the story starred Harry, who built a drum and inspired a musical group featuring his forest buddies, the shy insectivore ignored the crowd when it came time for show-and-tell, rolling into a softball-sized ball with his quills pointed outward.

Helen, on the other hand, stuck to a more social posture and proved to be the most popular of the visiting animals, a group that included two snakes, a cockatoo and a salamander.

“You see the smiles on these kids’ faces?” said Alex Tucker, a field deputy for Councilman Richard Alarcon and a member of WOW’s board of directors. “They don’t get an opportunity to see things like this on a daily basis.”

On Friday, the children listened quietly as Torres told the story, but they proved less patient as she brought out the live animals one by one. “Sometimes the kids have a hard time controlling themselves when the animals come out. They’re very enthusiastic,” Torres said. “But this group was very respectful of the animals.”

“At first I was scared. I didn’t touch the snake or the salamander,” said 11-year-old Tyra Washington. “I liked the bird the best because it was soft.

Duane Burney, also 11, said he had never seen a hedgehog before.

Funded primarily by private grants, WOW is a nonprofit wildlife education organization that brings animals to schools, libraries and community organizations. WOW also rescues and rehabilitates injured or displaced animals and provides a home to those that cannot be returned to the wild.

For more information about WOW, call (818) 951-3656.