VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Aquarium is giving the animals in its care a chance to enjoy some new experiences through creating art... and helping raise money for the Aquarium in the process.

Aquarium officials say they regularly provide "enrichment" for the animals to experience a change of environment, use natural instincts and characteristics, and engage in their curiosity. Enrichment can be things like food or items... or, as was shown with a little critter named Squash, special activities like painting!

Squash is a tenrec, a small creature native to Madagascar that looks similar to a hedgehog, although hedgehogs and tenrecs are not related. Squash was given some safe, non-toxic paint to examine and his paint-covered paws skittered across a canvas to create a painting.

Artwork

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