It is with a heavy heart that I report the loss of our opossum Galileo. Recently he started to show signs of heavy labored breathing and his appetite had decreased greatly. We took him to the vet for x-rays on Tuesday October 15, 2013 and found that he had fluid in his chest cavity that was preventing him from breathing properly. It was determined that he needed to be euthanized. The final results of the necropsy are still pending, butRead more
Posts filed in: Carolina Wildlife
Colorful Chemistry
We run weekly water quality tests on all of our fish, alligator and turtle tanks in the Animal Department. We monitor the waters’ pH and the levels of Ammonia and Nitrates. This is important because aquatic animals are often very sensitive to chemical changes in the water they live in and drink; more so than their terrestrial relatives. 10 tanks plus 1 “control” tank (filtered water, to make sure the tests are working properly) The end result: 33Read more
How does a rattlesnake make that sound?
The first time I ever heard our Canebrake Rattlesnake shake its tail it sent the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I was behind the scenes working with some other snake when it went off. The other day when I was cleaning exhibits I wondered how exactly its able to make that sound with its tail. I did a little research and this is what I came up with. If you have ever looked closely at theRead more
QuikPic: Resting Gators
I was cleaning the Carolina Wildlife glass recently and caught a couple of our American Alligators in my favorite “just hanging out” pose. Read more
Raptor Center Road Trip & a Quiz!
Kimberly and I recently took a road trip out to the Carolina Raptor Center in Huntersville, NC to pick up our two new owls. The trip out was uneventful (unlike the ride home) and we got to walk around the facility before crating up our birds for the van ride home. Here are photos of few of the residents at the Raptor Center. How many raptors can you ID?Read more