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The Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library brought Animal Tales to Brundidge Station on Thursday with Kaitlyn Thompson as the educational presenter.

Thompson has grown up loving animals. Her dad shared her interest and together they have experienced many exciting adventures with animals in the wild. Thompson has wrestled gators. She said knowing what to do and how to do made it possible for her to have a safe and successful experience.

But at Brundidge Station, she spoke to the youngsters about her love of animals and how to safely interact with them.

But, Thompson didn’t bring all large animals to talk about with the kids.

The first critter on stage was a cockroach, a hissing cockroach from which the young audience backed away. The hissing cockroach lives on the island of Madagascar and is commonly found in rotting logs.

Thompson also brought along a prairie dog, a rodent, like a rat. The prairie dog lives in the grasslands while a hedgehog can be a pet if handled carefully.

“A hedgehog has sharp quills and they have to be comfortable you or they will stick you,” Thompson said. She talked with the kids about animals that have backbones and those that don’t and about insects that have antennas and six legs.

She talked about animals big and small, about the sounds that animals make and how they move and where they live. She talked about why animals are important and why they must be protected.

The members of the young audience was attentive and responsive and thanked Thompson for telling the tales about animals.