A Budding Naturalist

By Laurie Borst

For as long as he, or his mother, can remember, 8-year-old Conrad Reilly has been interested in the natural world. When he was little, every plant and insect caught his attention.

At the age of 3, he became interested in dinosaurs. Then, on a trip to Florida, Conrad found a roller conch, a knobbed whelk, and a Cowrie shell. That started the collection he now has on display in the Children’s Room at C.H. Booth Library.

“I liked the shells so much that now when I go to the beach in Port Jeff or Florida, I collect new ones,” Conrad explained. A few of his shells, he admits, came from shops at the beach.

He likes the shells best because they remind him of Florida. He participated in the Reflections Contest at school, writing about his favorite place — Florida, of course.

One day, his mom found an owl pellet in the backyard. She brought it in and Conrad recognized it immediately. At Middle Gate School, Conrad had dissected an owl pellet in Mrs Fagan’s science lab. His display includes a variety of items found in owl pellets. He has a complete mouse skeleton mounted on paper that he found in a pellet.

Science is his favorite subject. His interests within science range from dinosaurs, to shells, to birds, to rocks, to outer space. Conrad received a telescope one year for Christmas from his grandparents. He and his family tried to watch the eclipse a couple weeks ago, but the moon was behind trees.

The same grandparents gave him a microscope for his birthday. He uses the microscope to get a closeup view of the feathers, shells, and bones he collects.

Thomas Edison is one of his favorite scientists. He admires all the inventions Edison developed. Galileo also caught his attention.

“Galileo dropped a big stone and a little stone off the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Both stones hit the ground at the same time,” said Conrad.