One of the many things animal keepers are tasked with aside from the expected poop scooping and wall scrubbing is operant conditioning (aka “animal training”). Nearly all the animals at the museum have a primary trainer who thinks of new behaviors they’d like that animal to learn, then builds a step-by-step program to shape that behavior, and ultimately implements that program over the course of days to months (depending on the complexity and the animal’s response) until we’re at aRead more
Month: December 2017
Christmas 2017
So, I’m sweating at 5:30. Last night I set out shorts and sweat pants and a sweatshirt. I know I am always hot with the heat blowing while working indoors, so I set out layers to wear today. Yay for being prepared. Here’s the but… I decided not to wear them — what the heck was I thinking!! My alarm went off at 4:52 and I drug myself off the couch (with glasses on and not lost this year), brushedRead more
Monday is Christmas…
… and you know what that means ?! Just me while the rest of the staff are celebrating, sleeping, or doing whatever they want while not at work. Thank goodness Harriet will be helping again this year. Please, share any favorite “Christmas Blog post memory” (or specific desires for me to capture this Christmas). One of my favorites (of many) is a 2013 post-Christmas writing challenge that Sarah took on. A list of Blog posts from past Christmas’ can be perusedRead more
Virginia’s treatment plan
I’ve watched Virginia, our black bear that has been at the Museum since June 2005, grow from a 15 pound cub still on a bottle to a full-grown black bear. We noticed many months ago she had an intermittent yet recurring limp. It never stopped her from doing anything but it just wasn’t going away no matter what variety of treatments we provided. Diagnosis has been a challenge, but we had a team from NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine outRead more
QuikPics: NY Wolf Family
I’ve been too busy to even sit at my desk — sorry there have been no Blog posts recently. With that said, the following two photos were sent to me so I am sharing with you. Both are of the wolves we sent to NY. You can watch the wolves on a live webcam if you want. Read more