Christopher, our barred owl that lives outside next to Max the Steer and Chummix the Goat in the Farmyard, recently took a field trip to a local school to visit some second graders. He had a great time. Sherry (the Animal Department Director) gave the students all kinds of interesting information about him (you can read more about barred owls here and here). The students were able to meet several of our eduction animals during a special animal program (IRead more
Search Results for: christopher
Farewell our Feathered Friend
Christopher, our barred owl that resides on the Farmyard, was euthanized on Monday. Keepers found him about one month ago not eating and on the ground several days in a row. We brought him inside, checked him out and then sent him to the NCSU vet school. To be honest, I assumed he would not improve, but after multiple tests, treatments, and supportive care, he took a turn for the better and starting eating and perching. Unfortunately, that turn forRead more
Animal Department Boys
A quick shout-out to our two father’s in the animal department today. The two of them, especially together, provide quite a bit of entertainment. Some photos of Kent and Aaron are below. We’re skewed female in the department: Seven human females to two human males. In “zoo lingo” animal department staff sexes would be written as 2.7 (actually, to be technical, it would be 2.7.0. the first number is males, then next is females, and the last is unknown). Our volunteer team is skewedRead more
Bathing Birdies
The other day while I was closing the farmyard, it began to pour. I had to construct a makeshift poncho out of a garbage bag, because I didn’t follow the golden rule of the boy scouts and was unprepared. I stood there for what seemed like an hour waiting for the duck to go into his stall for the night. Duck, being the duck he is felt it was better to be out in the rain and bathe in hisRead more
QuiKPic: Raptor handling
I train the keepers and educators to handle our two program raptors. (Misha and Christopher). I’ve completed five weeks of work with Molly, but she still needs to practice. She’s decided to send me a photo every time she take out one of the birds to show me of her commitment. Way to go Molly!Read more
How some animals beat the heat
As I write this it is the second day of summer and I am already done with the heat. Naturally, I was then asking myself who may have it worse off then I do in this heat.I began to think of animals in the desert and what methods they use to stay cool. A lot of desert animals are crepuscular. This means that they are active during dawn and dusk. Some are nocturnal which show up during the night timeRead more