SALT LAKE CITY — It's kind of like Mother Nature's haunted house with an educational twist.
There are species that slither, critters that crawl, creatures that bite your toes underwater and swoop out of the forest canopy.
"Nature's Nightmares," Hogle Zoo's new summer season exhibit, premieres Saturday and promises to both startle and educate.
The news media got a sneak preview Friday morning in the zoo's tropical gardens building, which in previous years housed exhibits such as Ghost of the Bayou and Madagascar. Though scary looking, the animals in the new exhibit aren't as menacing as their reputations.
"We hope that people will gain a greater appreciation of nature," said Holly Braithwaite, zoo spokeswoman. "We've got a whole lot of stuff in here."
The exhibit also seeks to teach how destructive humans are to the environment while explaining how to change habits to better the planet.
Stars of the display are brightly colored but gnarly king vultures and about 50 free-flying straw-colored fruit bats fluttering overhead.
The South American vultures are the largest scavengers in the world, with a wingspan of almost 6 feet. They are contained in a glass enclosure.
The fruit bats are loose in the exhibit, however. They cluster up high, near the ceiling. Some look cute and others threatening, with a 30-inch wingspan. The bats are on loan from the Milwaukee Zoo.
Other animals included in the exhibit include red-bellied piranha, a skunk, an emperor scorpion, Norway rats, mosquito larvae, leeches, dung beetles, giant Vietnamese centipedes and even a goliath bird-eating spider.
As frightening as some people might find those animals, they benefit the environment, Braithwaite said.
The exhibit stresses that like vultures on land, piranhas fulfill a similar role in the ocean with the disposal of corpses. Stinky skunks help control rodents and other pests. They also feed off decaying animals and eat black widow spiders and scorpions. Rats, too, form a natural clean-up crew.
Daring visitors may touch some of the insects, with the assistance of the zoo staff.
"Nature's Nightmares" will be open 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through the summer season. Weekdays hours will be 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The zoo staff will usher in small groups of about 25 people at a time, to enhance the personal experience of the exhibit.
Hogle Zoo is open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The grounds close at 6:30 p.m.
Regular admission is $9 for adults, $7 for children and seniors, and children under age 2 are free.
For more information, go to www.hoglezoo.org.
e-mail: lynn@desnews.com