Insect Petting Zoo Comes To Tulsa's Gathering Place For Spring Break

The Gathering Place has a lot of spring break events planned this week, but one of the more interesting events is an insect petting zoo.

Oklahoma State's Insect Adventure is the only live petting zoo of its kind in Oklahoma, and it gives people the opportunity to learn more about the largest group of animals on Earth. On the first day of the petting zoo, a lot of families came out to see what it was all about.

The Insect Adventure travels around frequently and gives people the chance to touch or in some cases hold and experience insects which, according to the program's director, Andrine Shufran, helps people learn to be less afraid of insects and other bugs.

"They are actually the most important animals that we have. The planet would not function without this group of animals so it's a good thing to learn about them while you're young so that you don't spend a lifetime being afraid of spiders, when you should really be afraid of ticks and mosquitoes. Those are deadly, spiders are not," Shufran said.

Shufran said that because there are so many species of bugs out there, she's constantly learning something new every day.

"There are so many different species of bugs. I can learn a new bug every single day for 1,000 lifetimes and still not be anywhere near learning all the bugs that are out there so for kids it’s very stimulating. There’s something new. If you have a short attention span, you can change and grow with each of the differences," Shufran said.

The live petting zoo will be open at the Gathering Place through Friday, March 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.