MIDLAND, Texas — Creatures young and old, small and tall, scaly and furry live at the Petroleum Museum.
You might not have even seen them during a trip to the museum.
That's because they all crawl and hop in the education hall, a small room, hidden away, as soon as you enter the building.
"We have 2 sulcata tortoises, we have 5 box turtles, we have a bearded dragon, an iguana, we have a king snake, we have a Nether-land dwarf rabbit and a French lop rabbit," Mara Bland, Petroleum Museum education director said.
Their oldest animal, which they've had for 16 years, is a chinchilla.
Their newest friend they got just 3 months ago. He also happens to be the most exotic-he's a wallaby.
"We try to be the science and technology center for our area since the closest one is Lubbock, and so with that we branch into different forms of science, so we don't just talk about energy, we also talk about biology, we talk about chemistry," Bland said.
So that's where the animals and oil meet.
It all began when their previous education director brought in a few native animals like prairie dogs.
From there, their critter habitat has grown to house 18.
"Our animals are used in outreach programs that we can take into the schools. We also do programs here at the museum. We use them to teach about different adaptations, ecosystems, animal classifications. And it's a fun, hands-on way for the kids to get to experience some exotic animals that they might not otherwise," Bland said.
So next time you find yourself at the museum, take a peek.
You just might make a furry friend.