Dino Venture at the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature

This Herrarasaurus was no match for Deb.

Sometimes it's good to have some straight up fun. Deb, Libbie and I pass Dinosaur World whenever we visit the Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland. It's hard to miss dinosaur heads looking out over the highway. But we've never had the time to stop. When I read that the Bishop Museum in Bradenton had an animatronic dinosaur exhibit of its own on display, I knew our time had come. We had a blast. 

You'd never mistake one of the Bishop's dinosaurs for the real thing. But that didn't stop me from being startled when I walked into the exhibit and a Dilophosaurus chirped loudly at me. So creepy. Deb and Libbie just laughed. 

Dilophosaurus

Each animal has its own wall card (ground card?) with a bit of info. I learned, for instance, that the Dilophosaurus was a carnivore that roamed the United States almost 200 million years ago. If you've watched Jurassic Park (and who hasn't), the species will be familiar to you. (Click here for a refresher.) The Herrerasaurus, which could be found in Argentina, was known for having a flexible lower jaw for grasping its prey. I suspect Deb didn't know that when she was roaring right back at her new pal. 

With Triceratops

I have to admit that I was less interested in learning about the dinosaurs than interacting with them. With my always keen eye (???), I spotted a box of plastic replicas for children of all ages to play with during their visit. I grabbed the baby Triceratops and made an introduction to the larger version on display. They seemed quite interested in one another so far as I could tell. Oddly, I found myself speaking in the same voice with which people typically talk to infants. And in case you feel a bit nervous about my proximity to the big guy, Triceratops were herbivores, so I wasn't endangering myself by getting this close. 

Lessem's fave -- the feathery Troodon 

The dinosaurs on display were created by DinoDon, Inc.  All kidding aside, Don Lessem -- aka Dino Don -- is a big deal in the paleontology world. Lessem came to his passion in an unexpected way. Back in 1988, he was a science writer for the Boston Globe. When he assigned a story about dinosaurs, he fell hard for them and has never looked back. Early on in his dinosaur career, Lessem excavated and recreated (in the traditional way) the world's largest dinosaurs in Patagonia and Mongolia. He has made such an impact that he even has a dinosaur named after him -- the Lessemsaurus, an Argentinian herbivore. But it's the Troodon that tops Lessem's list because it was the most intelligent of the ancient creatures. 

Libbie, Deb and me with an Euoplocephalus

Lessem is passionate about dinosaur education and has written 40 kids' books on the subject. He's hosted shows on Nova, written for the Discovery channel and created traveling exhibits. And while his work as an advisor to Stephen Spielberg for Jurassic Park was obviously a pretty plum gig, it sounds like he was quite serious about making sure they got things right. 

Lessem's company began making animatronic dinosaurs only three years ago. They now have about 250 of these creations in stock that travel to places like the Bishop. Lessem says the technology has improved to the point they could make the dinosaurs rap, lip sync and interact with one another. That's something I'd love to see. (He already has models that can fart and pee.)  A new version of his dinosaurs is supposed to be out this year -- thanks to some funding from the Mark Cuban on Shark Tank -- so I'm going to be on the lookout for future Dino Don exhibits. For two great interviews Lessem gave to Planet Attractions, click here and here. And for his own website, click here. I'm kind of taken with him. 

For more information on the exhibit at the Bishop Museum of Natural History, click here. It runs through March 18th.  While you're there, be sure to check out the Bishop's planetarium and other offerings. It's a gem of a museum. And now it's time to queue up Jurassic Park.