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Pig Quiz

#1: Name the pigs ( easy?) #2: Whose arm is in the first photo (also fairly easy) #3: What two items are being fed to the pig Need a clue as to the food? If so, continue reading. If not, stop right here.   The two foods are holiday/festival related, although the holidays are unrelated to each other. Think Halloween and Pesach (Passover).Read more
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New Year’s Resolutions 2013

Hey there!  It’s former Animal Keeper Kristen, back on the blog to talk New Year’s Resolutions.  Well, I actually haven’t made time yet to reflect on the past year and set some goals for 2013  ( I’ve looked to the museum animals for inspiration in years past: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), so I suppose I’ll be working on that the next few days.  But I thought I’d throw out a little challenge for you– and for me.  I visit theRead more
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Concurrent Accession

“Accession” is a word the zoological world uses to mean, “adding to.” It’s the term applied to newly acquired individuals to a museum/zoo/aquarium’s collection. We don’t have a large turnover in our collection at the museum. Every year we lose some animals due to old age, health problems, or transfers to other institutions and we gain a couple, but our collection stays at about the same number. Because we don’t take in new animals very often, I found it interestingRead more

QuikPic:Rainy Day

I  snapped this photo on a real rainy day while I was waiting the storm out in the barn. The alpaca seemed real relaxed. This position is  cush sometimes spelled kush  in alpaca vocabulary.Read more
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Big Word of the Month: Flehmen Response

  Whatever you call it, if you have a pet cat at home (especially if it’s a male) you’ve likely seen this face before. It goes by many variations of the same name: Flehmen Response, Flehmen Position, Flehmen Reaction, or simply Flehming. Flehmen (pronounced: FLAY-men) Responses are used by a wide variety of  hoofstock (ungulates) and many cats (felids). Males and females, adults and babies, all exhibit this silly facial expression. The silly look on the animal’s face helps toRead more