The elephants, baby lions and nearly 400 other species at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are gearing up to help Washington celebrate Halloween a week early. The zoo, which has 2,000 animals, will host its 13th annual Boo at the Zoo this weekend.
The event completely transforms the zoo, assistant event director Dan Pierron said, with decorations at nearly every turn, including spooky lighting, witches and scarecrows. The zoo also incorporates a conservation theme. Gravestones are erected for extinct animals, and many of the treats they hand out at their 45 sponsored stands are healthy alternatives to candy.
| If you go |
| Boo at the Zoo |
| Where: National Zoo |
| When: 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday |
| Info: Members $20, nonmembers $30; nationalzoo.si.edu |
Boo happens rain or shine, zoo spokeswoman Devin Murphy said. Many indoor exhibits are open as well as other habitats.
The invertebrate house, including everything from spiders and coral to Octavius the octopus, will be open the night of Boo. Visitors can walk through and learn about invertebrates, which make up 99 percent of all known living species.
Volunteers carry animals like the stick insect to educate visitors and help them feel more at ease. Like much of life, interacting with bugs is about comfort level. Just ask Smithsonian animal keeper Donna Stockton.
“Tarantulas, I’ll save their lives, but I won’t play with them,” Stockton said as she played with a pair of cockroaches. “It’s that level of comfort that I never got. They’re creepy-looking to me.”
Cockroaches, on the other hand, are great pets, she said. They each have their own personalities, including the one in her hand who she said is schizophrenic. Most insects, she said, have their own personalities.
Some of the habitats aren’t closed off with a piece of glass. People walking through don’t even notice that nothing is separating them from the large orb weaver spider.
“It really is a study in people to see their reactions,” she said. “Some people will touch the insects, but they see spiders and they’re gone.”
The event has sold out nearly every year, Pierron said, and tickets for this Saturday are already gone. Money from the ticket sales benefits the zoo’s conservation science and animal care programs.
