Max & Molasses

On Friday, Keeper Marilyn and I were getting enrichment ready for Max, the steer in our Farmyard. Sometimes the enrichment is some kind of scent or flavor sprayed or spread on some of the toys that we vary in the yard. This time, we thought it might be fun to try molasses and see if Max might like it. As soon as he was let out of his stall, he ran down to the pole where we had hung hisRead more

QuikPost: Max and his stump

Kimberly shared the stump story, along with photos of the bears and the stumps.  Jim, our landscape environments director and deliverer of the stumps to the yards, caught this video of the end of Max’s initial meeting with his stump. Enjoy.Read more

EnrichBits: Max’s Monday out– part two

EnrichBits: A monthly look at animal enrichment In the last EnrichBits post, I showed Max, our steer, getting some time outside his stall and yard on a day we were closed to vistors. He got to experience many new and enriching sights, sounds, and smells while he checked out Loblolly Park (our playground). The goal is to provide new and exciting without crossing the line into stressful, so we had quite a few animal department staff out there to helpRead more

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

Max’s Red Bucket Training

I recently posted an update about our new Jersey steer, Max. Along with being taught how to walk on a leash, we have also been training him to associate a red bucket with his food. Why would we do this, you might ask? That’s a great question! Since he first arrived at the museum, Max has always been very motivated by food. He was quite eager to receive his bottles of formula when he was a calf, and still showsRead more