Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Question #1: Can I ask you a question?


Answer: Yes! Please – ask another!

Animal Caretakers get asked a lot of questions – a lot of good questions! Here are some of our most popular.




FAQ #2: Are those snakes poisonous?


Answer: No, our snakes are not venomous. All of our snakes are constrictors, which means they squeeze their prey to death before they eat them. Our snakes don’t have to squeeze their food to death because we give them previously frozen rats. Dead prey is safer for the snakes because it can’t fight back and potentially injure them. Still, our constrictors squeeze their prey instinctively.

FAQ #3: Do you feed the naked mole-rats to the snakes?


Answer: No. The naked mole-rats are kept completely separate from the boa constrictors. Even though naked mole-rats sometimes die naturally, and the snakes would probably find them pretty tasty, we feel that we would be crossing a morbid line to offer our naked mole-rats up as food.

FAQ #4: Don’t sea anemones sting?


Answer: Not our Puget Sound sea anemones. You may feel a mild stickiness when you touch the anemone’s tentacles but that’s all. If you were a tiny sea creature, that stickiness would feel like a sting.

FAQ #5: Do naked mole-rats eat their babies? I think I saw one eating a baby!


Answer: Perhaps what you saw was a mole-rat eating a carrot? Unlike pet hamsters and other rodents in captivity, mole-rats rarely resort to cannibalism. In fact, when a mole-rat dies, it is more likely that the colony members bury them in the bedding.

FAQ #6: Are those the cockroaches they eat on “Fear Factor?”


Answer: Yes [sigh]. Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches are said to be delicious and high in protein. Some cultures consider them a delicacy. But we would never eat just any insect without thorough knowledge of its safety. Some insects are toxic and they all carry germs!

FAQ#7: How do the naked mole-rats know that the potty chamber is their bathroom? They can’t read the sign!


Answer: What do you think? Do you have a cat? Does she go in a litter box? Have you noticed dogs like to go where other dogs have gone? It’s because of the smell, right? And if you look closely, you’ll notice our naked mole rat potty chambers are isolated with only one entrance. This keeps the smelly room away from their living areas. Mole-rats have an excellent sense of smell!

FAQ #8: Will the hermit crab bite me?


Answer: Well, it won’t bite you … but it may pinch you, and then just enough to hold on. It’s more likely that when you pick up a hermit crab, the little critter will scurry back into his shell. It’s afraid of you!

FAQ #9: Where is the naked mole-rats’ water bottle? My hamster has a water bottle in his cage.


Answer: They don’t need a water bottle or dish. Naked mole-rats live underground in dry desert conditions. They have adapted to get all their moisture from their food. Because they live in cramped tunnels, the humidity is very high. Their need for moisture is not the same as your hamster.

FAQ # 10: What are these things? Axo …??


Answer: Axolotls, “ak-suh-lot-l.” Although they look like big tadpoles, axolotls are actually amphibians that never go through metamorphosis. You probably won’t find them in the wild – they come from areas of Mexico that are heavily populated and they are nearly extinct in nature. Axolotls are studied for their ability to regenerate their limbs.

Any other questions?


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Sea Star Spawn and so on

Sea stars, and many other marine animals, reproduce in ways that look very different from anything air dwellers do. Recent visitors to our Puget Sound Salt Water Tide Pool may have noticed some interesting, springtime behavior.



If you notice a sea star emitting a cloudy substance, the star is spawning - releasing its gametes into the water. Sea stars can be either male or female, and both release their spawn (is there a better word for this?) in the same way. Because they tend to live near other members of their species, there is a very good chance that some of these cells will find each other and fertilization can take place. In our tide pool, with its necessary filtration system, any fertilized sea star eggs won't be able to survive.

Like sea stars, many anemone species spawn by releasing free swimming (gametes) into the water. But many anemones also reproduce asexually, creating genetically identical clones of themselves. They can either split into two anemones of roughly equal size, or the parent anemone can bud smaller offspring. Sometimes when a large anemone relocates, it will leave small groups of cells that regenerate into tiny new anemones.


When you visit our tide pool or take a walk on a beach, lives are being lived around you. Look closely to appreciate the many way animals have evolved to meet the challenges of survival and reproduction.

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Leave them alone. They’re trying to clone!

Although they are animals, sea anemones are as lovely as the flower they are named after. Their colors range from red through orange, white, and green, some are even marbled in two tones. Tentacles fringe the perimeter, in the center is the orifice, or mouth. Sea anemones belong to the phylum Cnidaria. Because this group of animals lack a two-ended digestive tract, the mouth also functions as their anus.

At Pacific Science Center's Puget Sound Salt Water Tide Pool, we encourage you to touch the tentacles, which are used to sense and manipulate food and to defend the animal. We ask you not to touch the orifice! And now that you know what it is for, you probably don’t want to.



Sea anemones are normally round. But recently we have had a large number of anemones become elongated in one direction and narrow in the other. They look for all the world like rubber bands being stretched out tight.

These are one type of anemone, Anthopleura elegantissima, the aggregating anemone. While anemones can reproduce sexually by releasing free-swimming gametes into the water, many types also reproduce asexually. In the case of the aggregating anemone, the animals clone themselves. The stretched out individuals are part way through the process. Their two ends will each become a fully functional animal. The area in the middle thins until it eventually disconnects, freeing two daughter organisms.


Clonal groups of these anemones will often populate a large rock or flat area on a beach. When two groups meet, they use special stinging cells to battle each other. Don’t worry! None of the anemones in our exhibit is known to have a sting that can be felt by humans.


So when you see an anemone in the midst of cloning, please show it a little extra care. Cloning is fascinating, but it is also risky and costly of the animal’s resources. Choose another anemone – a round one – to touch. Though in a different way than we are used to, it is reproducing, and needs an extra bit of privacy.
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Love Your Beach

In wake of the current disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, we feel extremely lucky for the opportunity to explore our own local beaches, and to appreciate the delicate and unlikely balance of the animals that live along all shorelines. While we continue to hope for the best in the southern coast, we invite you to learn more about the tidal ecosystems that exist on Washington beaches. It’s been said that you can’t protect what you don’t love. We hope you’ll love it too.




On April 29, a group of Pacific Science Center’s life sciences staff and volunteers, along with two of our Science on Wheels teachers took a day trip to Indianola beach to collect marine life for our tide pool exhibit. As always, we brought our scientific collections permit from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, a list of animals we needed and we came prepared for rain or shine.

It was a beautiful day, and we collected a fine selection of animals.

2 - Aggregate anemone
4 - Christmas Anemone
17 - Hermit Crabs
3 - White anemone
3 - Plumose anemone
1 - Sea Algae (large bag)
5 - Sea stars – ochre
4 - Barnacle groups
3 - Mussel groups
3 - Burrowing sea cucumbers
1 - Key hole limpet
3 - Gunnel fish (juvenile)
5 - Snails
4 - Shrimp (small)
9 - Chiton, mossy or lined
2 - Isopods
1 - Cockle
4 - Moon snail collars



As we worked and enjoyed the day, the environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico was never far from our minds. Pacific Science Center’s tide pool model was developed to help foster appreciation and stewardship of Puget Sound. Never have those goals seemed more important; nor has the beach seemed more valuable or more fragile.


It can be overwhelming to think of large scale issues that threaten beach health. But there are many things we can do in our daily lives to preserve beach habitats. From visiting the beach respectfully and responsibly, to reducing the use of toxic pesticides, to cleaning our car at a carwash instead of on the street, to using the car less – many simple decisions impact the health of beaches. In caring for the beach, some will become involved in influencing bigger policy questions that help shape the future for our marine animals. We invite you to meet our animals, visit a beach, and link to other organizations dedicated to preserving the health of our irreplaceable Puget Sound.


Once again, we are grateful to PSC volunteer John Aurelius and the Indianola Beach community for allowing us to collect permitted animals from their shores.

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