As requested: side by side views of Godzilla with and without “beard”! He’s a handsome fella either way. And check out those Popeye forearms!Read more
Posts filed in: Education
why they are called BEARDED dragons
You may have read Marilyn’s post about Godzilla, one of our bearded dragons, and his new cage set up. Well, now that we’ve had some really balmy afternoons, we figured it was about time to get all the supplies ready for the cages to be rolled outside so the dragons can get some some fresh air and most importantly, natural sunlight. As we adjusted Godzilla’s cage and that of his neighbor, Beardy Jr. ( a younger female) there were aRead more
Creature Feature: Misha the Red-tailed Hawk
You may have seen a recent post about Birdapalooza, an event held here a few weeks ago. The day-long event included programs that discussed different species of birds, including raptors. Keeper Jill took the opportuntiy to do a program with our red-tailed hawk, Misha. Misha was born in the wild, but in November 1991 he was brought to the Carolina Raptor Center in Charlotte, N.C. with an eye injury.The staff there rehabilitated him and taught him to sit on aRead more
Big Word of the Month: When is bedtime
Are there really early birds and night owls in nature? Most animals have normal daily patterns of activity. Biologists often divide behavioral patterns into one of three categories: Diurnal – being most active during daylight hours Nocturnal – being most active during nighttime hours Crepuscular– being most active around sunrise and sunset What kinds of animals do you think would fall into each of these categories?Check the comments section to see some examples.Read more
The Benefits of Public Programs
One of the many aspects of our job as animal keepers is to help educate the public. Programs are the best way to share information about our animals while also allowing us to talk about wildlife and the dangers that some species face today. In the process, these programs give us the opportunity to reach out and interact with our visitors so they can ask us questions that, unless through this blog, they would otherwise not be able to. TheRead more
Give a snake a break!
Marilyn’s recent post on Ball python #1 reminded me of a conversation I had with a visitor. We were discussing the size of snakes in North Carolina and how most people overestimate the length of a snake when they see one. Remember that when you are startled by a large snake, it is looking up at you from about an inch off the ground. Even if you are short like me you are probably 50 times taller than the snake!Read more