Gabe Kerschner will bring a menagerie, likely to include alligator Spike to the Effie Yeaw Nature Center’s NatureFest open day on June 8.

 

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Birds, reptiles and marsupials will be among educators during an open day at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center. Staged previously during the fall, NatureFest has been rescheduled as a spring attraction. The June 8 event is the center’s largest educational event.

Many exhibits and shows are scheduled. Primo act is naturalist Gabe Kerschner’s “Wild Things” show. Hundreds of TV and school appearances have featured rescued animals from Kerschner’s Placer County sanctuary and ambassador critters will take center stage at the Carmichael event. Likely visitors include an alligator, a lemur and a kinkajou. Nature Fest visitors will also experience Kerschner’s more regional menagerie. 

Save the Snakes, a nonprofit organization that champions one of nature’s most misunderstood species, will offer slithering serpents for supervised handling. Native Bird Connections volunteers will bring live avian stars to the stage.

Visiting “Mad Science” demonstrators will animate natural phenomenon such as volcanic eruptions, cyclones and hot air that sends balloons up, up and away. They will also explain how optical illusions work, launch model rockets and create chemical reactions. Cotton candy is the product of one demonstration.

If serious hunger results, lunch and snacks will be available from food trucks.

Hosted walks through the center’s 100-acre preserve usually include deer and wild turkey sightings.

As the center is a hub for Native American studies, Maidu Nisenan basketry and abalone necklace making will be demonstrations. Hands-on activities will be offered. Event organizers welcome youth groups.

NatureFest runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 8 at Effie Yeaw Nature Center, 2850 Lorenzo Way (Ancil Hoffman Park). Adult admission is $12 ($10 in advance) and $6 for ages 4 to 12 ($5 in advance). Children aged 3 and under are free. Parking is complimentary. Tickets are available online at www.effieyeawnature.org/naturefest2025.

Sponsors include American River Natural History Association; ​Fred and Betsy Weiland; SMUD; Eric Ross; Randy Getz; Dr Gabrielle Rasi; SARA; Carmichael Water District; Irish Iron; California Native Plant Society; and Sacramento Area Creeks Council.