Creature Feature: Banded Water Snake

This snake came to us in September of 2008, but its estimated birth date was in August of 2007. The previous owners had it for 6 months and then gave it to a pet store, which then donated the snake to us. We are not sure if the snake is male or female, and I am hesitant to speculate due to the most recent mix up with our black rat snake! However, what I am sure about is that thisRead more
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Surprise!

Every keeper has experienced the unpredictable at some point or another. It just comes with the job when you work with animals. No matter how well we think we know our animals, they still randomly do things that will shock or amaze us. Whether it be getting themselves stuck in places that we never imagined they could fit into (such as our tiger salamander with his water bowl), or finding out that one of our sweetest animals is a pettyRead more

Friend or foe?

Aaah, springtime! There are so many great things that happen in the spring: beautiful flowers come into bloom, the trees are full of bright green buds, temperatures are perfect for outside adventures, baby animals are in abundance, and suddenly every living thing seems rejuvenated! And those changes in activity and behavior also apply to the museum animals. Wendy the woodchuck has come out of hibernation and is starting to climb around her exhibit and run around the support hall again.Read more

Creature feature: Lightning the Sicilian donkey

Lightning is one of the most well known and popular animals we have amongst our visitors. I have had people tell me they have been coming to the museum for years and that Lightning is their favorite animal! And there is good reason for Lightning to have made such a good impression, because he interacts with the visitors in many different ways. Lightning seems to thrive off of human interaction, whether it be spending time with the visitors or givingRead more
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The hazards of coyote night lighting

There are many struggles that face the wild red wolf population at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (ARNWR). I have already mentioned gunshot mortality and domestic dog diseases as two of the main problems that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) must address on a regular basis. However, another pressing issue is the importation of coyotes for the practice of coyote hunting, which can threaten the red wolf population in more ways than one. One of the initialRead more