Copperheads on Campus

It is the time of year when we start to see more snakes, and copperheads are just one of the very common snakes found on our grounds, in Durham, and around the state. The past couple days we had to remove two copperheads from unwanted areas. Janine and Rob were loading limbs (from last week’s yard work) onto the trailer to haul off. Janine was pleasantly surprised (I mean terrified) to come just about face to face with this littleRead more

What’s been going on here

It seems to be a theme– another package of goodies sent for the critters. This time, no note, so a huge THANK YOU to the sender(s) of these items. With all the rain this week, a lot of our add-on projects got postponed. We’ll be spending time getting wet, drying off, and getting wet again, so look for a report next week. However, you know we got the wolf pool cleaned last week. Every wolf pool cleaning comes with someRead more

Making Lemonade out of Lemons… red wolf pup style

Nope, no pups here, but it’s the time of year when red wolves have pups. For the most part, every red wolf is born in April or May (I believe there have been three litters in the past 30+ years born the very last week in March). Several of our partner institutions in the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan have had pups. North Carolina Zoo, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, and Rowan Wildlife Adventures, just to name a few. EvenRead more

May 13 Update

I started writing this at around 5:30 this morning. At 5:30 AM, it’s quiet at the Museum, at a time when it should be quiet. It feels normal and that’s nice. What is also turning out to be normal is opening packages with more gifts for the critters! As I mentioned Sunday, we had yard work to do out in Explore the Wild. We got the wolf pool cleaned thanks to Janine. Rob spent an hour pulling poison ivy– youRead more

Happy Mother’s Day

I hope all the mothers out there are staying safe and well, and are getting a little extra of whatever increases smiles today. I made chocolate chip cookies last night. My daughter’s huge smile was the gift I needed. A few things have happened since I was here Wednesday. On the plus side, we got more gifts! On the more challenging side, we had a few issues with two of our Farmyard family members. All is fine now, but here’sRead more

Thanks for the gifts

I shared last month how frustrating package delivery has been. Thank goodness that has been worked through, as today, packages arrived with gifts for the critters! (Last week a couple boxes arrived with snacks for the humans– thanks Betsy!) Such a nice treat. Mocha and Latte were given a chew toy immediately, and look: And we’re now set on goat treats. We use these treats during operant conditioning, for relationship building, and for treatments. Our goats are trained to walkRead more