Spring has sprung. Time to wake up! Back in October keeper Marilyn told you about our woodchuck Wendy who was about to go to sleep for the winter. Wendy is awake now and following a daily pattern of eating and sleeping. In this month’s Big Word post I thought I would explore some of the scientific terminology surrounding what we call hibernation. People often assume that an animal that hibernates simply goes to sleep for a longer time. However, researchRead more
Posts tagged: #behavior
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
Suppertime in the bear house
Like many of our animals, the bears get food when they come inside for the evening. At the beginning of the video you can see a that the bears first search out all their produce which has been hidden by the animal keepers. Later they spend time picking up all the small pieces of bear chow you can see in the foreground. Don’t miss the after dinner bath towards the end of video! Our oldest bear, Ursula, is not visibleRead more