Berkshire Backyard

Get to know the many species of Berkshire animals and get up close with some of the creatures you encounter in your own neighborhood in this spectacular exhibition of preserved natural specimens native to the Berkshires.

Berkshire Animals Up Close

Examine the beautiful, strange, and incredibly specialized adaptations of beetles, butterflies, true bugs, and other insects. Compare and contrast birds from different habitats, like wetlands, fields, and woodlands. Stand face-to-face with a bear, mountain lion, and more!

In the Berkshires, forests, fields, lakes, and streams provide homes for birds, fish, insects, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. From bullet beetles and bullfrogs to black bears and black-throated blue warblers, there are thousands of species of animals living in this unique environment.

Dates

Open Daily
Times

Open during museum hours
Tickets

Included with admission
Location

Main floor
Perfect For All Ages
Berkshire Museum’s Berkshire Backyard exhibition creates opportunities for visitors to encounter and learn about native wildlife with its collection of preserved specimens you won’t find anywhere else.
Berkshire Museum’s Berkshire Backyard exhibition creates opportunities for visitors to encounter and learn about native wildlife with its collection of preserved specimens you won’t find anywhere else.
Berkshire Museum’s Berkshire Backyard exhibition creates opportunities for visitors to encounter and learn about native wildlife with its collection of preserved specimens you won’t find anywhere else.
Berkshire Museum’s Berkshire Backyard exhibition creates opportunities for visitors to encounter and learn about native wildlife with its collection of preserved specimens you won’t find anywhere else.
A young child compares her DIY bear puppet with a black bear on view in Berkshire Backyard.
A young child compares her DIY bear puppet with a black bear on view in Berkshire Backyard.

Our specimens

Specimens have come from a variety of sources. Some were purchased at the time the Museum was founded and the exhibits were built, during an era the predates Jacques Cousteau, Animal Planet, and IMAX films, when collecting animals for educational purposes was done routinely and was an important means of learning about the natural world. Others have been donated to us through the years, and a very small number have been purchased in the last couple of decades.

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