In my first post about red wolves, I discussed the physical and genetic similarities that coyotes and red wolves share. I also showed pictures of both species as a comparison. These two animals are very difficult to tell apart, especially if it is from a distance while one runs through the grass or across the road. Although each species has their own specific body dimensions such as height, length of the legs and snout, and the degree of bushiness inRead more
Posts tagged: #Marilyn
Creature Feature: Wendy the Woodchuck
Wendy is one of my favorite animals at the museum, and since she has been mentioned in other posts I decided to feature her this month. There’s a lot that can be said about this big gentle rodent, but what the keepers know her best for is her mischevious behavior. Wendy came to us in March of 2004 from Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury, North Carolina. She was already an adult when she arrived at their facility, so we doRead more
Taking the bad with the good
Everyone is different when it comes to choosing a career that best fits their interests and desires. A good place to start when it comes to deciding if a job is right for you is to look at what the job really entails. If you are thinking about being an animal keeper, the first thing you should know is that your days would not consist of just playing with animals. In fact, if you would rather not clean, get dirty,Read more
Catching some rays
I did a post a few months ago about an outdoor playpen that we were working on for our education animals that live inside. We wanted this enclosure to be suitable for many different animals to use, and with some work we made that possible. Now this outdoor area can hold opossums, chinchillas, ferrets, rabbits, chickens, turtles, bearded dragons and alligators (not all together, of course!) We are pretty excited about having this new enrichment possibility for our animals, asRead more
Creature Feature: Ursula the black bear
If you are a frequent visitor to the museum or the blog, you are probably familiar with our black bears. There have been plenty of pictures, as well as some videos, that we have posted about our three youngest bears (Gus, Virginia and Mimi). The black bear exhibit also tends to be a favorite for visitors, and I often hear people speak of our three young bears by name. But when it comes to Ursula (we call her Urse), mostRead more
Anyone feel hot out here?
Is it just me or did we skip right over the 80 degree days and go directly to 90 and 100 degree days? It has been sweltering hot lately and, like anyone else who works outside, it is really important to stay cool and hydrated. For the keepers (as well as our volunteers), this means keeping coolers of ice water around and making sure to stay in shady areas whenever possible. A lot of the work we do is prettyRead more