Our newest Opossum, Romeo, is in quarantine. When ever an animal is in quarantine we still try to give them enrichment. We try to only use disposable items so we can just toss them out. I put Romeo’s food in a paper bag and was surprised to see how he got his food out! Watch below! Read more
Posts tagged: #enrichment
Pumpkins for alligators
Pumpkin season is coming. Post-Halloween leftovers are great for Museum enrichment. However, we had a little pumpkin fun early with the alligators on Friday. You know alligators “like” ducks, so no big surprise that they “like” pumpkins too! (Look for more pumpkin blog posts in November!) Read more
Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
What do Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock and our Ring-Tailed Lemurs have in common? They are all artists, of course! We do all sorts of things to enrich the lives of our animals and sometimes we do stuff just for fun! It is great when they are one in the same! Our bachelor group of lemurs got to try their hand at painting! How do we get our lemurs to paint you ask? Watch the video below to see! Read more
Wobble Wobble
The bears have a new structure in their yard! It looks a bit like one of the Observatory Towers in Queens, New York, only smaller. Keeper Autumn, and our amazing exhibits staff, built a “wobble tree” for the bears! It’s a food dispensing tower that’s nearly 14 feet tall. We load food onto the platform on the top, then the bears need to push or pull the tower to make the food fall out. Here’s a video of Mimi knockingRead more
Keeping Cool–Bear Style!
As Sarah mentioned earlier, is has been HOT lately. In addition to getting showers, we make large ice treats for the bears to help them keep cool. We usually add a variety of fruits or items that may be expiring soon to encourage them to dig though the ice. This is by far one of my favorite enrichment items for the bears! They always go right for them and spend a long time working out all the goodies! Below areRead more
Mimi Takes a Shower
Welcome to summer in the South. It’s hot. Mimi, one of our female black bears, has taken to coming to visit whomever is cleaning the bear house in the morning to get sprayed down with the hose. She’s been especially cute as the temperatures have gotten hotter. Last Sunday, I managed to coordinate my cellphone and the hose well enough to get some of her morning shower on video! Watch below!Read more