High Desert Museum

Daniel liked the otters best.

No, on second thought, I believe the porcupines got the nod. Or maybe it was the longnose snake, all coiled up with no place to go. The Native American masks?

It’s difficult for a 7-year-old to decide. For all its scholarly trappings and glossy veneer, the High Desert Museum is a world-class place of wonder for a kid.

Son Danny was hooked before we made it to the front door.

“What fish? I don’t see them,” he said, peering down into the little stream that fringes the patio outside the Schnitzer Entrance Hall. “Whoa. There they are, Dad.”

The museum trout, inured to a steady procession of four-limbed gawkers, don’t dart for a safe haven the way their wild desert brethren would. But with their mossy backs and subdued speckles, they’re able to hide in plain sight.

According to its goals statement, “The High Desert Museum exists to broaden the knowledge and understanding of the natural and cultural history and resources of the High Desert for the purpose of promoting thoughtful decision-making that will sustain the region’s natural and cultural heritage.”

First grade is a good place to start.

“That trout is huge. He must be the dad of all those other guys.”

“Look at the lizard. He’s cute. He’s so harmless. They like to hide, don’t they?”

“This teepee is so middle ages. Back when they had lanterns for light.”

“How do they get all the sound effects?”

“Dad, let’s find out about the snake.”

“I was thinking I’ll share about this when I go back to school.”

“In memory of Fre-der-ick W … I wonder who he was. It wasn’t George Washington was it? Come on, camera breath.”

And it was off to see the otters, Daniel leading the way.

If the youngsters in your household are getting antsy, take them down to see the otter (there were two at the time of this visit; currently there is one).

They’re inherently cute, intelligent and playful to a fault.

They’re really friendly. Danny said that.

“If an otter can’t have fun doing something, it simply won’t do it,” is something otter expert and author Ed Park said that was so right on that the museum made it part of the exhibit.

The otter lives in an exhibit that can be viewed outside from above and inside from under the surface of the water. You can watch it gambol and cavort on your own or time your visit to coincide with one of the periodic lectures about their life history.

“Want to go look at the porcupines?”

I was following Danny this day. We were pretty much bypassing the history-heavy exhibits. It was the living, breathing, slithering creatures of the High Desert that held this kid’s attention.

“I just love porcupines.”

The porcupine is the anti-otter. You’d only cuddle one once. Porcupines are slow of gait, rolly-polly and exhibit a prickly appearance that only a mother could love.

“Aren’t they cute?” said Dan.

He especially liked the baby porcupine that got way out on a limb only to have its mom help it gently back down to terra firma.

“Let’s go find some more animals.”

And we did, inside the museum’s Donald M. Kerr Birds of Prey Center. The “Raptors of the Desert Sky” gave us a close-up view of a number of these fierce predators including a golden eagle, bald eagle and spotted owl.

There’s much more to see at the High Desert Museum, and if your kids are a little older (i.e., longer attention span), you’ll probably want to show them the Lazinka sawmill, the 1869 vintage Robbin’s homestead cabin, the Changing Forest Exhibit that shows how fire is essential to the ecosystem, the Silver Sage Trading museum store and the various galleries and rotating exhibits.

All that walking and talking and thinking, however, left young Danny with a powerful hunger. So after a couple of hours at the museum, we were off in search of a burger and fries.

But we vowed to return again one day soon to see “the rest of the stuff.”

And look in on the otters.

The High Desert Museum is just south of Bend on U.S. Highway 97.

Cost: Adults $15 for two consecutive days; seniors 65 and older $12, youth 5-12 $9, children 4 and younger free.

Contact: 382-4754 or www .highdesertmuseum.com.

— Jim Witty