A painted brook now runs across the Animal Room at 120 Brookside Road and appears to flow straight into the turtle pond that was already there. Above it, the planning documents call for a three-dimensional oak limb to come off a floor-to-ceiling hardwood forest mural and run along a beam across the room. On the opposite wall, the plan gives the chinchilla and the rabbit fallen logs, tunnels and dens in place of the enclosures they had before. Those two are Kuzco and Seymour.
The Darien Nature Center reopened the room to the public on Saturday, Oct. 17. Patch reported that the center calls it the largest improvement to the facility since the building opened in 2002. The center designed the renovation around animal welfare first and visitor experience second, and it already had results to point to before construction began.
The Owls and Turtles Came First
Before anyone sketched a forest mural, the Nature Center had rebuilt two habitats. The owls and the turtles got naturalistic enclosures, and the center's project overview describes what staff saw next: better appetites, more natural behavior and a calmer temperament. The center took this as evidence that enriched habitats improve the animals' mental health and lower their stress.
The rest of the room is that same approach applied to everyone else. The center's animals page says more than 20 animals live there, that they come "from around the world," and that staff build habitats and special diets for each species. The mural shows a Connecticut hardwood forest of oak, hickory and beech, but many of the residents come from elsewhere. Scout is an African pygmy hedgehog. The design matches each animal to the way it behaves, not to where it comes from. Burrowers get burrows. Night animals get a tree to shelter in during the day.
How the Room Is Designed to Work
The plan divides the room into areas, and each one gives a particular group of animals something to do. Patch confirmed the finished room's main elements: hardwood forest murals, a woodland stream, a vernal pool, winter burrows and new enclosures built to highlight Connecticut wildlife and ecosystems. The center's planning document gives more detail:
- The New England Winterscape. This is on the north wall, where the old enclosures used to be. It is a habitat of fallen logs, tunnels, dens and burrows for the chinchilla, rats, rabbit and gerbils. The center says it gives them "greater opportunities for the animals' exercise and enrichment."
- The nocturnal tree. A hollow tree built for the hedgehog and the sugar gliders, modeled on the owls' tree so the room feels connected.
- The forest wall. A floor-to-ceiling mural on the 30-foot south wall. A painted brook leads into the existing turtle pond, and an oak limb extends into the room.
- The birds. A mesh enclosure places the doves inside the forest scene. A songbird mural stretches from the nocturnal tree to the owl enclosure and includes a vernal pool, which the center describes as critical habitat for Connecticut amphibians. Above the turtle tank, the plan calls for a songbird panel by Michael DiGiorgio, a nationally recognized bird artist from the area.
Knowing the cast makes the room easier to read. According to the center's animals page, the burrowers are Kuzco the chinchilla, the rats Butter and Biscuit, Seymour the rabbit, and the gerbils Midnight and Shadow. Scout lives in the nocturnal tree with the sugar gliders Harry and Blossom. The doves are Paz and Pearl, and the owls are Blinken and Luna. If you knew the room before the renovation, you knew these animals in their old enclosures. The new design is meant to let you see them dig, tunnel and hide.
The Upgrades Most Visitors Won't See
Patch noted that the project also paid for a new generator, kitchen upgrades, new flooring and other infrastructure work. Each one has an animal-care purpose. The center's overview explains that the generator keeps lighting, heating and cooling running during power outages. The flooring replaces worn linoleum. The kitchen remodel adds storage and appliances so the staff who prepare each species' diet can work more efficiently.
The generator is in the budget because a room of small mammals, birds and reptiles needs stable temperatures whether or not the power is on. Like the owl-and-turtle results, it shows the renovation was built first around the animals living there all year.
Who Paid for It, and How Much
According to Patch, the Nature Center announced in June that it had completed a $250,000 capital campaign for the project. The campaign announcement, still shown on the Nature Center's homepage, names the lead donor. The Darien Foundation's initial $50,000 grant launched the project, and a second grant of $20,000 helped the center "cross the finish line so that construction can begin next week." The Riley Family Foundation gave a $50,000 challenge grant that the center says "inspired our community to rally behind this project."
Measured against the $250,000 total, those two foundations gave $120,000, or a little under half. The rest came from the families and foundations the center thanks on its homepage. These include the Borman Family Foundation, the Rogers Family Foundation, Jon and Colleen Thompson, the Blackman Family Foundation and the Hausberg family, plus a longer donor list linked from the same page. The project was paid for largely by local donors.
Visiting This November
The center's homepage lists visiting hours as Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Animal Room's own page gives a 3:30 p.m. weekday close, so if you're planning a late-afternoon stop, confirm with the center first. Saturday mornings are the one weekend window.
The center has two November events on its calendar:
- Thursday, Nov. 12: Movie night. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the Teton Gravity Research film Actually, It Is Rocket Science runs from 7 to 8:15 p.m. Tickets are $30 per adult and $15 per child. The film is suitable for ages 12 and up, and anyone under 18 must come with an adult. The evening includes refreshments, campfire popcorn, s'mores and a raffle with prizes such as skis and lift tickets. The center is also collecting gently used outdoor gear, including unwanted ski gear, for a local charity. Details and tickets are on the center's site.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Holiday Market. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with handcrafted, sustainable gifts from local artisans and crafters, plus food, face painting and more. The listing is here.
The market starts an hour after the center's usual Saturday opening and runs an hour past its usual 1 p.m. close, so check with the center if you want to see the Animal Room on the same visit.
Outside, the Nature Center sits inside Cherry Lawn Park. A small trail system starts from a kiosk behind the building, and the kiosk map marks the trail's features. The Darien Land Trust and a crew of Nature Center board members maintain these trails year round. An hour in the painted Connecticut forest inside pairs easily with a loop on the trails out back.
Two other dates on the Darien Chamber of Commerce calendar fit naturally with a Nature Center month. The Darien Land Trust holds its annual meeting on Nov. 12 from 6:30 to 8 p.m., with forester and author Ethan Tapper as guest speaker. That evening conflicts with the movie night, so you'll have to pick one. On Friday, Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving, the Darien Depot's 4th Annual Overstuffed Turkey Trot runs from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on the Darien High School cross-country trail, with proceeds supporting The Depot youth center.
At Taylor Tait, we follow places like the Darien Nature Center because their small upgrades say a lot about the town and the people who pay for them. If you're thinking about what your home is worth in a town that raises $250,000 to give a chinchilla better burrows, request a complimentary home valuation and we'll walk you through it.
