We got the beasts

Creepy and crawly

Tarantulas and scorpions, Staten Island Children’s Museum
At the “Bugs and Other Insects” exhibit, tykes can wriggle into full-body bug suits (“Look, Ma—I’m Gregor Samsa!”) to get a sense of having an exoskeleton, crawl around an oversized anthill and move giant larvae from chamber to chamber. If the little buggers aren’t tuckered out, they can gawk at live tarantulas, scorpions, crayfish and crickets. See Museums & Sights.

Millipedes and worms, city parks
Bugging out yet? On Sunday 8 at 11am, Urban Park Rangers at Queens’s Fort Totten Park will conduct a free “micro-safari” to track down centipedes, millipedes, termites, earthworms and beetles. Enter park from Cross Island Pkwy at 212th St, Bay Terrace, Queens (718-352-1769). Travel: 7 to Flushing–Main St, then take the Q13 or Q16 bus to the last stop.
• Brooklyn’s Marine Park holds a similar tour on Sunday 8 at 1pm. Salt Marsh Nature Center, E 33rd St at Ave U, Marine Park, Brooklyn (718-421-2021, nycgovparks.org/parks). Travel: F, N, Q to Ave U, then take the B3 bus to E 33rd St at Ave U; or 2, 5 to Nostrand Ave, then take the B41 bus to Kings Plaza.

Horseshoe crabs, city beaches
Stumble across one of these marine animals, with their brown shells and daggerlike tails, and you might think you’ve found a prehistoric creature. You’d be right: Related to ticks, the arthropods—which grow up to two feet long—are among the planet’s oldest species. Watch these “living fossils” mate on Saturday 7 at 7pm during a free Urban Park Ranger tour at Staten Island’s Conference House Park. 7455 Hylan Blvd at Satterlee St (718-227-1403, nycgovparks.org/parks/conferencehousepark). See website for travel instructions.
• Or join the Urban Park Rangers at Orchard Beach in the Bronx on Sunday 22 at 10am to see horseshoe crabs along with tidal-pool animals—shrimp, crustaceans and fish. Orchard Beach Nature Center, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx (311 or, outside of NYC, 212-639-9675; nycgovparks.org). Travel: 6 to Pelham Bay Park; then take the Bx5 or Bx12 bus to Shore Rd.

Bats, Staten Island Zoo
At the zoo’s popular Breakfast with the Beasts series, which next occurs 8:30–10am on Sunday 22, your little one can watch as critters are fed—and may even get the chance to help prepare the food. In the past, children have made meals for otters and fruit bats. If the bats aren’t dining the day you’re there, take the kids to the zoo’s tropical rain forest exhibit to see a real bat cave (Christian Bale not included—sorry, mom).

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