Our bears are some of the most entertaining animals to watch here at the museum. Gus is our only male bear, and he has some funny antics that make the keepers laugh on a regular basis. Even though he is the youngest bear, at only 3 years old, he is already the dominant bear in the enclosure! Since black bears are naturally solitary animals, they have to form a heirarchy in order for them to co-exist with one another. ItRead more
Posts tagged: #museum
2009 Red Wolf SSP meeting
Sunday is the beginning of this year’s red wolf SSP meeting. This year it is in Tacoma, WA. At last year’s meeting in Chattanooga, we learned that our “brother” wolves would be moving on and that we would be getting two new wolves, a male and a female that we hoped would breed. The photo is of red wolf 1390. He was crated and driven to his new home last September. This year’s meeting should be interesting, as they alwaysRead more
Durham Yard Sale
YARD SALE! supporting the NC Piedmont AAZK SATURDAY JULY 18th 7:00am-11:00 at the Picnic Dome across from the Museum of Life and Science A few of the keepers here at the museum have joined together with some of the keepers (or techs, as they’re called) at the Duke Lemur Center, to form a local chapter of the American Association of Zookeepers (AAZK). The AAZK is a non-profit, volunteer organization of professional zookeepers and other persons dedicated to professional animal careRead more
What a crazy day (at least for me)
Today started out at 7:00. Katy, Marilyn, Cassidy and I caught our female wolf. We wanted to get a look at her incision site on her chest from her surgery, as well as draw blood and take a look at a new scratch we noticed on her hip over the weekend. Dr. Vanderford was here for vet rounds (which is why we were catching the wolf), but it made for a busier than usual Tuesday. Kent was off so ErinRead more
Our talented bears
If you ever had any doubt about how very dexterous a black bear is, how’s this for evidence? This is a watermelon produce sticker that I found in the bear yard yesterday while scooping. (yes, we are using up all those watermelons on my desk) I’ve actually found even smaller apple and orange stickers before, taken off so smoothly that you’re still able to read the produce number! I’m not sure whether they are using their teeth or their claws,Read more
Big Word of the Month: Piloerection
You may have recently read about our new pig, Miss Piggy; she just moved in with our older pig, Squealer. Pig introductions don’t usually happen without at least some scuffling to establish dominance. During the introduction, both pigs displayed quite a bit of piloerection, or raised hairs. The word piloerection comes from the Latin root pilus, which means hair. Piloerection occurs in many mammals and happens when the tiny muscles at the base of each hair follicle contract. Piloerection canRead more