Outdoors in the City: Earth Month at Milwaukee’s Urban Ecology Center

Everyone gathered around as Sam Huenink stepped towards the tank, preparing to feed the snake a dead mouse.

“Please no screaming when he grabs the mouse,” Huenink, the community programs educator for Milwaukee’s Urban Economy Center, told the gathered children. “Then he’ll be scared and won’t want to eat.”

With Earth Day of Service quickly approaching, Milwaukee’s Urban Ecology Center has been promoting a series of activities throughout the month of April.

Every Saturday afternoon, the Riverside Park Ecology Center hosts a free animal feeding program that is suitable for all ages. The feedings take place indoors and the instructors explain the eating habits of their resident fish, turtles, snakes and various other small creatures.

“I like the integration of being able to be in the city still while having this outdoor experience, having this park, having the river just a little ways away and being able to do all that,” said Huenink.

The crowd was able to participate in most feedings. Children volunteered to feed crickets to small turtles, as well as shake food into a snapping turtle’s tank. No animals may be touched during the service.

“We like to get kids in and educate them about the different things that live around them,” said Huenink. “We have animals here in our Center as ambassadors for the ones in the wild. That way, they can learn through these and better respect the ones outside.”

The largest snake in the facility, the bull snake, was extremely active in his habitat during these feedings. The bull snake is Wisconsin’s longest heavy-bodied snake and is completely harmless.

The audience was told to keep its distance and the children giggled with excitement. Huenink clipped the mouse by the tail with a pair of tongs and lured the snake to it. After some hesitation, the snake snapped the mouse and slowly started ingesting it.

Haley Dolata of Milwaukee was babysitting her cousin Mandy for the day. It was their first time at the Center, but after seeing an advertisement for Earth Month, they were intrigued.

“I hadn’t heard of Earth Month before this, but this place is really neat,” said Dolata. “Mandy loved the snakes. I’m definitely glad I brought her here for the afternoon, otherwise we’d just be at home watching Netflix all day.”

There are three Urban Ecology Center locations in Milwaukee including Riverside Park, Washington Park and Menomonee Valley.

The goal of the Centers is to preserve Wisconsin’s natural landscape and rid it of invasive species that harm the original ecosystem. Because April is Earth Month, they are taking extra steps to spread awareness of keeping Milwaukee’s waters clean, planting and caring for fruit trees and restoring the city’s bee population.

Earth Day of Service is taking place on Saturday, April 25. The Centers will be hosting a morning of volunteer activities in their parks followed by a community lunch. They will also be leading hikes and small-scale service projects for families.

Earth Day began in 1969 after a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. The idea came from Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, who recruited congressmen across to the country to promote rallies and parades. That year, 20 million Americans participated in streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Earth Day is officially celebrated on April 22 of each year.

Alongside the usual weekly programs of hiking, bird walks, animal feedings and various other cooking classes and book clubs, the Centers are also hosting summer camps for children. The camps are enrolling now and are available to preschoolers through children in middle school.