The warmer temperatures of summer stimulate the growth of an ancient life form in our local waters. Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, have been pumping oxygen into the environment for billions of years. Their buried remains contributed to the formation of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. Cyanobacteria live in almost every ecosystem in the world as well as living in symbiotic relationships with fungi to form lichens. You can find them in the ocean, in saltyRead more
Posts tagged: #Larry
Big Word of the Month: Marsupial
The next time you are strolling through Carolina Wildlife and pass Sonny and Cher opossum, stop to appreciate what a rare beast you are viewing. Pshaw! you protest, it seems you can’t drive 2 miles in North Carolina without seeing a deceased opossum by the road. Although very numerous as individuals, the Virginia opossum is a taxonomic rarity. Didelphis virginiana is in fact the only species of marsupial that exists north of the Rio Grande river. Originally found in theRead more
Big Word of the Month: Amplexus
We have had several recent posts about the explosion of life around the wetlands this spring. If you have been in Explore the Wild recently you no doubt have heard many frogs and toads calling. Earlier this week I found that some of our resident amphibians were busy making new amphibians at the edge of the bear pool. How many toads do you see in the photo? (click on picture to see larger version) This clump is one female AmericanRead more
Quikpost:Signs of spring
Signs of spring at the museum: Turtles hatching and moving towards the wetland But officially, spring starts when you see Sherry zipping around the bear yard aerating and planting grass seed. Afterward, the bears had fun playing in the cut grass.Read more
Yona’s First Day Meeting our Bears.
Sherry wrote about the bear introductions already but I wanted to add some video clips to her description. For a while Yona was in the side yard with Gus but they were not interacting. Yona was exploring the features in the yard and decided to tank a dunk in the water trough. Clip 1: Yona takes a plunge Keeper Katy did some training with Gus. Here you can see and hear Katy doing “target” training. Gus gets a raisin treatRead more
How to catch a stuffed lemur
If you’ve seen our lemurs up in Explore the Wild, you might have noticed that they have collars on their necks. Here’s a good picture of Lycus the Ring Tailed lemur where you can clearly see his collar: Our Red Ruffed lemurs have them too, and both species wear them all the time. We put these collars on our lemurs for the same reason you put a collar on your dog: to help us get them back if they escape.Read more