Wilco is one of five sheep living in our farmyard. She is the easiest sheep to identify because she is the smallest and has a black spot on her nose. Of our five sheep, there are two mothers, two daughters (one to each mother) and a male (whom is not related to, nor the father of, the other sheep). Wilco is one of our mothers. Surprisingly enough, both of the mother sheep are significantly smaller than their daughters! Wilco wasRead more
Posts filed in: Enrichment & Training
EnrichBits: Max’s Monday out
EnrichBits: A monthly look at animal enrichment Occasionally, we’ll get the chance as animal keepers to see our animals react emphatically to a completely different change of routine and surroundings. Over the fall, the Museum was closed to visitors on Mondays, so we used this no-people-on-museum-grounds opportunity to give Max, our Jersey steer, some (unleashed) time out of his exhibit yard. We had never done enrichment like this before, and weren’t sure how Max would react. He is a bigRead more
EnrichBits: The Office
EnrichBits: A monthly look at animal enrichment So, I was up on the 3rd floor of the museum the other day, where all of our accounting and business operations people work. As I’m walking through, I spot some old office accordion folders in their recycle bin. I grabbed as many as I could carry downstairs; they had to be good for some kind of enrichment! I decided the bears might like to tear them up while looking for bits ofRead more
EnrichBits: Keeper Enrichment
EnrichBits: A monthly look at animal enrichment Ok, enough about animal enrichment. It’s time to talk about keeper enrichment!! The idea is the same– animal keepers with choice and changes in their routines are happier creatures! Sherry gives all of us keepers opportunities to change up our routines now and again by giving us the chance to get off museum grounds (or at least out of the animal department area) and do something a little different.Jill, Katy, Erin, and CassidyRead more
EnrichBits: A new toy
EnrichBits: A monthly look at Animal Enrichment Our newest bear enrichment toy comes from the people at Boomer Ball. It’s made for polar bears, I think, but we thought we’d see how our Black Bears took to it. Remember as you watch this terribly suspenseful video, that it’s really enriching for the animal when they have to think about things and make choices! And the longer they stay interested, the better the enrichment! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMjrpe7Gahs[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXgYcqERdFM[/youtube]Read more
EnrichBits: Wild About Animals!
EnrichBits: A monthly look at animal enrichmentIf you’ve been enjoying learning about animal enrichment from these EnrichBits posts, you’ll definitely want to mark your calendars to come out to the Museum on Saturday, October 11 for our Wild About Animals event. Besides all the great activities focusing on our museum animals (meeting our farmyard veterinarian, reptile programs, behind the scenes tours, animal first aid, Hawk Talks and much more), we’ll be focusing on all things ENRICHMENT at Bear Overlook. You’llRead more