Creepy-crawlies, creatures of the wild at today's Autumn Festival

NORTH LIMA

If it has six legs or more, chances are good that James Smolka could easily walk through a conversation about it.

“A tarantula can detect light, dark and movement, and that’s about it,” Smolka, of Hinkley, Ohio, told a small crowd of youngsters gathered next to his table on which were displayed many types of insects.

Smolka is an entomologist who runs an educational program about insects called Bugs Unlimited. He also was among the attractions of Saturday’s third annual Autumn Festival at the Beaver Township Nature Preserve on state Route 165.

The four-hour gathering was geared toward nature and intended to better educate people about and deepen their appreciation for wildlife, noted Scott Conway, the nature preserve’s administrator.

Smolka showed his audience how a Chaco golden-knee tarantula can emit a silk-like substance from its rear. His other companions included a tailless whip scorpion from Tanzania, desert centipedes, a Chinese praying mantis, African assassin bugs and millipedes.

Things were a bit more still, however, at Dave Naukam’s tent.

Naukam, a volunteer with the nonprofit Beaver Creek Wildlife Educational Center in East Liverpool, had on display dead animal specimens, such as a river otter, a muskrat, a red-tailed hawk and a black bear, all of which had been preserved through taxidermy.

For more on the event, read Sunday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.