2 Zoo Residents Visit Bookstore

Two large rodents invaded the children’s section of Borders Books and Music for an hour Wednesday, but nobody seemed to mind.

In fact, parents brought their children to the Thousand Oaks bookstore to learn more about the rodents--a porcupine and a beaver--from Barry Davis, outreach coordinator at the Moorpark College Zoo.

“When people think about rodents, they think about big sewer rats,” Davis told those gathered at the bookstore. “But these animals are rodents and you have to appreciate them in a special way.”

At 4 p.m. each Wednesday during the summer, animals from the teaching zoo at Moorpark College are brought into the bookstore to teach children--and their parents--about animals.

“The adults seem to enjoy it as much as the children do,” Davis said.

Eight-year-old John Fritzen of Oak Park said he liked the beaver more than the porcupine.

“I liked the beaver because he was soft,” John said. “I like soft things.”

John, however, learned other things about the porcupine.

“He [Davis] told us a quill can enter through your skin and go all the way through to the other side,” he said.

“I was real surprised about that,” John’s mother, Joann, said.