Kids get up close with suburban wildlife

Children got to touch an American toad, learn about a painted turtle and get up close with a corn snake Sunday as part of the Lake County Forest Preserve District's Earth Week activities.

During "Meet and Greet Education Animals," visitors learned about animals and felt furs, feathers and scales from local wildlife at a touch table.

The annual event was held at the Edward L. Ryerson Welcome Center near Riverwoods and presented by educator Elise Waite.

"The kids are loving it," Waite said with a corn snake wrapped around her arm. "She's really cool and she's showing kids how snakes are out there and they're not scary."

Other Earth Week events included a birding program, Native Seed Nursery tour and an Earth Day celebration on Saturday that featured guided hikes, green building tours and habitat restoration projects.