Hinchman House Natural Science Museum

Live Animal Room

The Natural Science Museum is home to snakes, frogs, turtles, and insects. These are the stars of our popular Carnivorous Critters and Meet the Animals programs. Some animals live with us year round and visit the schools in the winter. Other animals just spend the summer with us and are then released back into the wild each fall.

Bird Displays

We have a collection of over 900 bird specimens representing most of the species seen on Nantucket. Some of these are on display in the Museum in seasonally changing exhibits that highlight interesting groups of birds or interesting behaviors. The rest of our collections are kept in the Research Center next door, which also holds visiting hours throughout the summer.

Hands-on Activity Areas

Each week our interns come up with new activities for visitors to try out and explore. Some of the standards include Ecosystem Jenga, bird gliders, coloring, and Nano technology activities. Come test your creativity!

Our job at the Natural Science Museum is to document the species that live on Nantucket and provide opportunities for visitors to learn about them. When you visit our museum, you will see both live animals and preserved specimens in our collections.