Creepy Creatures 2024 Recap

October 19th, 2024

Cachuma Lake Recreation Area, Santa Barbara, CA – October 5th, 2024 marked the day for another edition of the Neal Taylor Nature Center’s popular Halloween-themed event, Creepy Creatures. Each year the Nature Center collaborates with performers, educators, and nonprofits to make this event possible. With over 200 attendees, this year’s Creepy Creatures was a huge success and was a blast for all who attended.

Biologist Alice Abela returned this year with a plethora of live animals, including snakes, frogs, lizards, and tarantulas. She taught curious kids and adults alike about the fascinating features of these creatures. For example, Alice showed the crowd a Chuckwalla (Sauromalus spp.) lizard, which is related to an Iguana. It can store fat in its tail during periods of scarce food, and was also eaten by Native American tribes in the southwestern United States.

Santa Barbara County Parks and Cachuma Lake naturalist Kristin Loft presented a table with real animal skulls from various creatures native to the region like bobcats, mountain lions, skunks, possums, wild boars and raccoons.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History brought the Teen Programs Manager Haylee Rosso and her team of Quasars who set up a table with skulls, bones and fossils, including a mystery touch box where participants had to guess what was inside.

2 Amigas Arts & Crafts, consisting of Nature Center volunteers Barb Hale and Patti Sandow, decked out in full witch attire, hosted a Halloween mask making activity. Popcorn and Witch’s Brew (secret recipe: lemonade) were real crowd-pleasers.

Elevated Dreams Aerial Arts Studio brought over 20 youth students to display dazzling aerial performances, co-led by Nature Center board member Alison McCullah, and accompanied by enchanting music from JÜPITER. Alison also served as this year’s Emcee Spooky, as she announced each performer and helped hand-pick fun and spooky tunes during the event.

Dozens of kids enjoyed finishing our special edition creepy creatures scavenger hunt led by Nature Center President Edward Grand. Halloween-themed spider and bat rings were handed out as a prize for completing the scavenger hunt.

All proceeds from the event supported The Neal Taylor Nature Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Check out the rest of our photos, as well as videos put together by Nature Center volunteers!

Article and photos by Colin Eldridge

MORE ARTICLES

How to Make Origami Bat Bookmarks

How to Make Origami Bat Bookmarks

Here's a kid-favorite bat bookmark origami activity that we sometimes do here at the Nature Center. As far as origami goes, this bat is easy to make and fun for all ages. This craft is also great for any occasion, but is especially popular as we get closer to...

Lake Fire Update

Lake Fire Update

by Colin Eldridge On July 5th, 2024, a wildfire broke out near Zaca Lake in the mountains of Santa Ynez. The wildfire nearly tripled in size over the course of just a few days, quickly becoming the largest wildfire in California of the year until the Park Fire broke...

Meet World-Class Fishing Rod Builder Captain Tiffany Vague

Meet World-Class Fishing Rod Builder Captain Tiffany Vague

Meet captain Tiffany Vague, an incredibly talented rod builder. Tiffany is a master at her craft, having won 1st place in a people's choice award and one of the top 10 rods internationally at the annual international rod building conference. She weaves thread with...

Support the Neal Taylor Nature Center

The Neal Taylor Nature Center at Cachuma Lake is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preserving and educating people about the Santa Ynez River Valley's rich history and ecology.

Ways to support our mission:

  • Donate: Make a tax-deductible donation online, in person or by mail.
  • Become a Member: Enjoy exclusive benefits while supporting our work.
  • Volunteer: Make a difference as a residential camp host or visiting volunteer.

Donate

GET INVOLVED

Visit Us

Visit Us

Come by the nature center and enjoy our exhibits, weekly and seasonal events, book sales, workshops, gift shop and more!

Current Programs

Hours & Info

Subscribe to our Newsletter