September 14th – 20th is National Farm Animal Awareness Week! While the museum isn’t celebrating the week in the same way we do Bear Awareness Week or Wolf Awareness Week, you should still come out and say hello to your favorite Farmyard animals. You can even buy a Duck to help offset the cost of feeding our hoofstock and maybe win a really awesome prize on October 4th when the ducks race at the American Tobacco campus!Read more
Posts tagged: #duck
A loss in the department
Sadly, I’m writing this blog to let you know about our most recent loss, Scout. Scout was a big part of my career here, he hatched only a few days before I started. We would pal around in the mornings together in the farmyard before the museum would open. You could call him and he would come to you, at night he would know how to get to his stall and depending what time of year it was you hadRead more
What’s on Aaron’s leg?
It’s been a busy week in the bear yard. Last Friday we were dealing with fence damage from the storm. On Wednesday bear pools were cleaned, the yard was scooped, mowing and weed-eating occurred, and trees were pruned from around fences. Aaron showed me his leg first thing Thursday morning, and of course I decided to show you. Thougths? Read more
Trimming Duck’s Wings
Have you ever wandered into the farmyard and asked yourself, “Why doesn’t the duck simply fly away?” There are three answers: He does, sometimes. As you can see here in an older post. He seasonally has wing feathers trimmed to help keep him down on the ground. At nearly 11 pounds, he’s a little bit too chubby to really get off the ground. In the early spring and fall, Ducky molts (loses) his old feathers and grows a niceRead more
Scout, the Muscovy Duck
If you travel up to the farmyard, you will notice that we have a domesticated Muscovy duck named Scout. He doesn’t quack because Muscovy ducks hiss. Scout is 6 years old and I know this because he and I have been here at the museum the same time. He came as an egg from Keeper Kent. He hatched only a few days before I started working here. When he was little he was actually on display in Carolina Wildlife inRead more
Farmyard Pumpkin Fest 2012
Only a couple days after we were given that truckload of giant pumpkins, I answered a radio call from Sherry telling me to drive the gator very carefully so I wouldn’t spill the cargo (I didn’t spill any). With our Quarantine stall in the Farmyard already full of pumpkins, something needed to be done to whittle down the collection. The result: Pumpkin Fest 2012 There was even some pumpkin smashing! Read more