All Grown Up

Here’s a few then and now photos of some of your favorite Museum critters. Enjoy.   MAX OUR STEER    SCOUT OUR DUCK    AUGGIE OUR PIG   VIRGINIA BEAR     ME (really)    Read more

QuikPost: Yona is coming

I wrote a few weeks ago about a new bear that was likely joining the Museum family. This is the most current photo of her that I have. She was found as a 4 pound abandoned cub in February 2009. She went to Appalachian Bear Rescue with the intent of releasing her, but it never came to be. She never weaned properly and was more interested in the Curator at ABR than the other bear cubs she was being raisedRead more

new baby alligator

This is our new alligator to be used for education programs. He/she lives behind the scenes, so I thought I would give you a sneak peak. This little one hatched in September 2008. You can see he/she fits in my hand quite easily and is not much bigger than a dollar bill. You can see our new exhibit alligators in Carolina Wildlife. These three ‘gators were hatched in September 2007 and are much bigger than this little one. The fourRead more

A breath of fresh air

If you have been reading the blog for a while, you may remember back in March of last year when we constructed an outdoor playpen for our indoor animals to exercise in. More recently, you may remember a post about us receiving two new baby opossums. Well, the opossums (named Sonny and Cher) have grown fast and today was their first time getting to use the outdoor playpen! Now that the weather is nice, we like to give our indoorRead more

Big word of the month: Neoteny

The big word of the month is neoteny. Neoteny is a term from developmental biology that refers to the retention of juvenile traits into adulthood. Humans display neoteny compared to our living primate relatives like chimpanzees. Our heads remain relatively large throughout our lives, for instance. I was inspired to write about this issue by the response to our new baby opossums living in Carolina Wildlife. I think everyone that sees them usually utters the word “cute” within 30 seconds.Read more