Last year, it was Misha calling in the cooler weather. This year, it’s been the two big guys in the farmyard acting silly that let’s us know the crisp fall air is here to stay. Both Max and Lightning really seem to like playing with keepers much more once September and October roll in. You’ve seen Lightning play fetch with his Jolly Ball before, but did you know that Max will play Tag? [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TXFuy_SKs8[/youtube] Read more
Posts filed in: Videos
A Little Farmyard Fun
When I first started working here at the museum, I was told a very useful piece of advice from Kristen: “if you ever fall into the muskrat pool, toss your radio somewhere dry as you fall…radios are really expensive.” The last person I know of that fell into the pool was Larry and I have no idea if he saved his radio; it was before my time. While I’m sure you’d all love to laugh at me for falling intoRead more
Rabbit joy!
The other day I was in the farmyard and observing our two rabbits, Betty and Jean. Occasionally, I will give them access to run around inside the whole barn where they are kept so they can get some exploring time before guests arrive. At this time, I see them hopping back and forth and sometimes they will jump in the air and twist. This behavior is associated with positivity and excitement. This behavior actually has a name and its calledRead more
Alpaca Pool
Recently, we added a pool to our alpacas yard. We had a good feeling that they would use it because we kept finding a lot of dirt in their water buckets and evidence of water being splashed around. It took a while to be able to capture it on film, but we finally did. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpyxNSOpXBs[/youtube] Read more
Let’s all get weighed!
Keepers are enjoying the new scale in the farmyard, and so are the critters. Here’s some video of Max and the alpacas getting weighed. Max’s training focused on keeping him calm as he walked from his enclosure to the scale – he tends to get excited when he goes for a walk. And 1600 pounds of excited steer can be difficult to manage. But look how calm he is! [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSfSwNZ1ifY[/youtube] The alpaca training is more focused on helping them tolerateRead more
Our newest additions: Kerby and Styx
Two road closures, one tree down, and a two-car smash-up that closed most lanes on I-85. All while inhaling the delightful smell of animal poop, wafting from the rear of the van. It was worth it. Meet Kerby and Styx, our newest acquisitions to the museum family of animals. Both came to us (after 6+ hours of road tripping) from the Carolina Raptor Center (CRC) just outside Charlotte. CRC is very successful in returning injured raptors to the wild afterRead more