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
Posts tagged: #Kent
Animal Programs
The Animal Department does several programs a week. We have a daily 2pm Explore the Wild Keeper Talk, which changes between Bears, Wolves, and Lemurs each week. At these programs we talk to visitors about our animals, wild animals, what kind of food they eat, or any other specifics you’d like to know. We also have a Farm Yard Program at 4:30pm all days but Thursday. At these programs we close the Farm Yard which includes feeding the animals andRead more
Henry the Great
Henry is our resident Woodchuck in Carolina Wildlife. Below are pictures of him getting some exercise time on the Keeper Hall. Keeper Katy found it a great opportunity to get him on the scale. We weigh our animals on schedules, some may be once a week, some may be once a month. In addition, anytime we have an opportunity to weigh an animal -we take it! Keeping a good record of animal weights is very important and can help decideRead more
Concurrent Accession
“Accession” is a word the zoological world uses to mean, “adding to.” It’s the term applied to newly acquired individuals to a museum/zoo/aquarium’s collection. We don’t have a large turnover in our collection at the museum. Every year we lose some animals due to old age, health problems, or transfers to other institutions and we gain a couple, but our collection stays at about the same number. Because we don’t take in new animals very often, I found it interestingRead more
International Hug Kent Day
As you read this I am in New York for the AAZK conference. Sadly, I will miss International Hug Kent Day.That’s right everybody, it’s Keeper Kent’s special day. Last year this tradition was started by Aaron who decided Kent needed a hug. So, make it a point to hug Kent today or make sure to give him a belated one if you miss it this year. He may go into the fetal position when you try, but he gets overRead more
QuikPost: Yet Again, Another Quiz
I was doing a program recently for a Summer Camp group and one of the kids asked “what’s it like to work with all the animals“. I asked Jill, Katy, Kimberly, and Marilyn to respond. Guess who said which comment: (Kent took the quiz and got everything right). It’s Awesome, the best job ever It’s pretty cool It’s wonderful It’s a lotta lotta lotta work. All the answers describe accurately what it’s like to care for all the animals. KentRead more