One of Santa Cruz's Longest-Running Institutions

The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History has been celebrating 110 years of education people about the regions natural environments. Recently museum staff helped create this short radio tour ahead of the main event on August 22.

Visitors to Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz probably notice the concrete sculpture of a Gray whale across the street from the beach entrance. Just a few feet uphill from the whale stands one of Santa Cruz’s oldest institutions.

Bigger Than a Whale

"A lot of people have been to the whale or may know us as the whale museum," says Elizabeth Evans, the museum's program manager. "They may not know what's inside: they'll find exhibits on habitats throughout Santa Cruz County."

The museum rotates science exhibits regularly, and its permanent collection makes for engaging repeat visits for children and adults. At the entrance stands a cabinet of drawers holding the collection that began the institution 110 years ago. Laura Hecox, an early lighthouse keeper also avidly collected shells and other marine life. At the turn of the last century, collections served as a popular passtime, and Hecox made hers available for public viewing. She eventually donated it to the City of Santa Cruz. It's at your right when you enter the building.

Further inside find the skull of a mastodon that was unearthed on the bank of Soquel creek. A humming tank with an open top offers opportunities to handle creatures that live in tide pools.

Face to Face with Wild Animals

In the back of the museum visitors meet the natural inhabitants of the Santa Cruz Mountains, or their outsides at least. Except for the tide pool animals - also a king snake and a hive of bees - most of these animals are dead and artfully taxidermied, demonstrating how they stand and walk.

"We have coyotes, birds of prey, golden eagles and a mountain lion," Evans says.

The mountain lion was one of the few animals that was killed purposefully, says Liz Boughton, the museum's visitor services manager. Others were hit by cars or the birds might have collided with closed windows. Boughton explains this lion came from Carmel Valley.

Why Taxidermy?

"It was shot by a rancher who had a permit in the 1970s because the animal had been preying on his livestock. And afterwards they determined the mountain lion had an injured foot, which was probably why it was going after livestock rather than hunting in the wild."

Taxidermy might not hold the popularity it once did, but stuffed animals allow visitors to experience something they couldn’t with live ones.

"In real life you'll probably never get that close to a mountain lion or you probably don't want to get that close to a skunk," Boughton says.

Through the decades since it was founded, the museum has stayed relevant by teaching science to about 5,000 students who attend field trips every year.