Totally Texas -- Robot dinosaurs invade McKinney

Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary

1 Nature Place, McKinney

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If I asked my daughter’s five-year-old twin boys to list their favorite dinosaur, it would probably be Tyrannosaurus rex. Still, when I wanted a picture of somebody shaking the paw of the animatronic T. rex at the Heard Natural Science Museum in McKinney, nobody volunteered. Except my daughter, of course. (She avowed a love of strange creatures from a young age.)

That said, the boys insisted that Mom follow the map from the visitors’ center to be sure they hadn’t missed any of the robot dinosaurs. The 46-foot T. rex joins several new life-size animatronic prehistoric creatures in the sixth annual Dinosaurs Live! Life-size Animatronic Dinosaurs exhibit that runs through January 29, 2012. The dinos move and roar (or otherwise vocalize) along the outdoor trails that also introduce kids and adults to the native flora of North Central Texas.

On our visit last week, the boys found some of the indoor exhibits closed for remodeling. But besides the dinosaurs, there are still exhibits of wild animals the Heard is rehabilitating and a butterfly garden of native plants whose colorful exhibits demonstrate to both gardeners and lepidopterists what can be done to create wildlife-friendly habitats.

In addition, the Heard has six and a half miles of hiking trails that wind through several habitats of the 289-acre wildlife sanctuary.

This Saturday, October 29, the Heard also hosts outdoor concerts featuring local artists from the Collin County Songwriters Association from 1-4 p.m. Admission to the concerts is included in the regular admission price. See www.heardmuseum.org/ for prices and schedule.

The Heard is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. (Doors close at 4 p.m. to ensure everyone gets a chance to tour the exhibits.)

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Also this week:

Friday, October 28, through Saturday, October 29 -- Palestine’s Fall Fest includes Texas State Railroad “Peanuts” ride with Snoopy and other events. See http://www.palestinechamber.org for details.

Friday, October 28, through Saturday, October 29, the Paris (Texas, that is) Antique Fair at Red River Valley Fairgrounds. See http://www.paristexasantinquefair.com

Saturday, October 29, through Monday, October 31, Half-Price Books’ 5803 E. Northwest Highway location in Dallas holds a haunted house from Saturday, October 29, through Monday, October 31, all day in the community room. There’s also a trick or treat scavenger hunt October 31 from 6:30 p.m. through 9 p.m. (while supplies last). See
http://www.hpb.com



　

Totally Texas -- Chinasaurs' last roar

Museum of Nature and Science, Fair Park

3535 Grand Avenue, Dallas

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Today is your last chance to see the exhibit of dinosaur fossils from China at the Museum of Nature and Science in Fair Park. The museum will be open today until 6 p.m. for the final day of its extended summer hours. The exhibit -- labeled “Chinasaurs” -- includes twenty of the most recently-discovered fossils as well as fossilized dinosaur nests and eggs and five animatronic reconstructions. One of the animated dinosaurs is Velociraptor, who’s had a makeover since the movie Jurassic Park made him famous.

If you're not too unnerved after all that, include a showing of the museum’s IMAX film Sea Rex in your visit. All this is in addition to the museum’s regular fossils and plenty of other family-friendly exhibits. My grandsons were thrilled to see a simulated tornado on a recent visit. As they said, now they know what the thing they had to hide in the closet from last spring actually looks like. For more information and IMAX show times, see www.natureandscience.org/

In all, 2011 has been a great year for dinosaur lovers in North Texas. The Museum of Nature and Science had hardly moved its exhibit of life-size animatronic dinosaurs out the door this spring before welcoming the Chinese dinosaur fossils. This summer saw the announcement of a locally-found sea crocodile fossil named Terminonaris. Okay, it wasn’t a dinosaur, but the twenty-five foot long croc probably ran into a few dinosaurs while hanging around Texas 96 million years ago.

And despite the devastation of this year’s drought, low waters on the Paluxy River should make for good viewing of the fossil tracks at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose. See www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/dinosaur_valley/ or my “Tracking the wild sauropod” post from April 4 in the blog archives for more information.

Those who still can’t get enough of dinosaurs will be glad to know the Heard Natural History Museum in McKinney plans to open its outdoor exhibit of animatronics in October. For information and directions to the Heard, see www.heardmuseum.org/

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Already planning your next weekend? The 49^th Annual National Championship Indian Pow Wow meets this Friday through Sunday, September 9-11 at Traders Village in Grand Prairie. For directions and a schedule of events, see
http://tradersvillage.com/