点评:Saw an ad for their seasonal Spider Pavilion - where you can walk among over 300 giant Orb Weavers - and just had to see it!! It's amazing - unnerving yes, but definitely an amazing experience!! *Disclaimer: although my spider photos look very very close, I have a special lens and am actually quite far away - I didn't disturb them or touch them or anything*
Every year, around late August/early Sept, they release over 300 giant Orb Weavers into what's typically their Butterfly Enclosure and let them get established with their giant webs just in time for spooky season lol! And they let you walk around with all these massive spiders dangling over your head and hiding in the trees around you! A perfect way to get in the Halloween spirit haha!
But don't worry - there are lots of spider staff on hand to educate everyone and help with any fears, concerns, or issues you may have. And these spiders are actually quite slow and docile - they're not interested in you at all. They're also not harmful to us - all spiders are venomous to some degree, but these guys won't bite you unless you're aggressively harassing them and even then it won't be much worse than a bee sting (unless your allergic). That being said, please don't harass them lol!
I learned so much and got to see all sorts of species of spiders- mostly orb weavers such as the Golden Silk, Joro, Orchard Spider, and Yellow Garden Spiders. I also found a few Cat-faced Spiders and they're super cute!! And I found a creepy Green Lynx guarding a giant egg bundle AND an absolutely adorable, tiny jumping spider!
I even managed to find a couple of tiny baby spiders running around and one that was on a giant web that I got some great pics of! What an experience!!
I also found a cluster of ladybugs in all their various stages of development: larvae, pupae, and adult - I didn't even know ladybugs pupated!!
So it's definitely worth a visit if you can handle it - lots of school groups came through and most of the kids were loving it haha! Entry is with a timed ticket that you have to reserve in advance and it's an additional $8 on top of general museum admission. Staff take you into the first room where they give you the rules and some info and education and there's a nice display of various types of tarantulas too - but those are behind glass so don't worry haha!
Your timed ticket is good for 30 minutes but staff are generous and flexible if you want to stay longer. And if you can't get enough of the awesome arachnids, they have another creepy and interesting exhibit downstairs in the Nature Lab of Black and Brown Widows in cute little cages with different themes. Very creepy but fun to check out.
The museum itself is massive - it would take me at least a week to explore it all. But I had a nice walk around their extensive gem and mineral exhibit and the Nature Lab - so interesting!! They have all sorts of native California creatures and even a large enclosure full of rats!! Live rats!!
They have a cafe called Neighborhood Grill and a gift shop and several floors of different exhibits - it's huge! They have their own parking garage that's guarded and costs $15 for the day. It's all handicap accessible and has EV charging.
What an incredible experience! And wonderful, knowledgeable, passionate staff! I'll definitely be back to explore more!
翻译:看到他们季节性蜘蛛馆的广告 - 在那里你可以在 300 多个巨大的 Orb Weavers 之间行走 - 就不得不去看它!太棒了——是的,令人不安,但绝对是一次奇妙的经历! *免责声明:虽然我的蜘蛛照片看起来非常非常近,但我有一个特殊的镜头,实际上距离很远 - 我没有打扰它们或触摸它们或任何东西*
每年,大约八月下旬/九月初,他们都会将 300 多只巨大的 Orb Weavers 释放到通常的蝴蝶围栏中,让它们用巨大的网建立起来,正好赶上幽灵季节哈哈!他们让你四处走动,所有这些巨大的蜘蛛都在你的头顶上晃来晃去,躲在你周围的树上!融入万圣节精神的完美方式哈哈!
但不用担心 - 有很多蜘蛛工作人员随时为每个人提供教育,并帮助您解决任何恐惧、担忧或问题。这些蜘蛛实际上非常缓慢且温顺 - 它们对你根本不感兴趣。它们对我们也无害——所有蜘蛛都在某种程度上有毒,但这些蜘蛛不会咬你,除非你积极骚扰它们,即使这样,也不会比被蜜蜂蜇伤严重多少(除非你过敏) )。话虽这么说,请不要骚扰他们哈哈!
我学到了很多东西,也看到了各种各样的蜘蛛——主要是圆蛛,比如金丝蜘蛛、乔罗蜘蛛、果园蜘蛛和黄花园蜘蛛。我还发现了几只猫脸蜘蛛,它们超级可爱!!我发现了一只令人毛骨悚然的绿色山猫守卫着一个巨大的蛋包,还有一只绝对可爱的小跳蜘蛛!
我什至找到了几只小蜘蛛在跑来跑去,还有一只在一张巨大的网上,我拍了一些很棒的照片!多么美妙的经历啊!!
我还发现了一群处于不同发育阶段的瓢虫:幼虫、蛹和成虫——我什至不知道瓢虫化蛹了!
所以,如果你能承受的话,绝对值得一游——很多学校团体都来了,大多数孩子都喜欢它,哈哈!凭定时门票进入,您必须提前预订,并且在普通博物馆门票的基础上额外支付 8 美元。工作人员带你进入第一个房间,在那里他们会给你规则、一些信息和教育,还有各种类型的狼蛛的漂亮展示 - 但那些都在玻璃后面,所以不用担心哈哈!
您的定时门票有效期为 30 分钟,但如果您想停留更长时间,工作人员会很慷慨且灵活。如果您对这些令人敬畏的蛛形纲动物还不够了解,楼下的黑寡妇和棕色寡妇自然实验室还有另一个令人毛骨悚然且有趣的展览,它们被关在不同主题的可爱小笼子里。非常令人毛骨悚然,但检查起来很有趣。
博物馆本身很大——我至少需要一周的时间才能探索完这一切。但我在他们丰富的宝石和矿物展览以及自然实验室周围散步得很开心 - 太有趣了!他们有各种各样的加州本土生物,甚至还有一个装满老鼠的大围栏!活老鼠!!
他们有一家名为 Neighborhood Grill 的咖啡馆和一家礼品店,还有几层楼的不同展品 - 非常大!他们有自己的停车场,有人看守,收费 15 美元/天。所有残障人士均可使用,并配有电动汽车充电设施。
多么令人难以置信的经历啊!还有优秀、知识渊博、热情的员工!我一定会回来探索更多!