Last month we ran a few emergency trainings, or mock drills. In one of the scenes, the keepers learned of a wind warning/tornado watch. Part of their task was to rescue a staff member who found himself in a precarious situation on the boardwalk. I didn’t want to have a real person hanging over the edge, so this is Stacey (with Erin). I put clothes on him and duct taped a whole lot of bricks to him to make himRead more
Posts tagged: #museum
EnrichBits: The Office
EnrichBits: A monthly look at animal enrichment So, I was up on the 3rd floor of the museum the other day, where all of our accounting and business operations people work. As I’m walking through, I spot some old office accordion folders in their recycle bin. I grabbed as many as I could carry downstairs; they had to be good for some kind of enrichment! I decided the bears might like to tear them up while looking for bits ofRead more
Squirrels hoard acorns, and Kristen hoards our holiday candy…
But at least she has nicer teeth. Actually, hoarding acorns has been difficult for squirrels this winter due to an acorn shortage. You can click here to read more about it.Read more
A tough day
Yesterday was a tough day for the keepers. Our very cool Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle passed away. Sponge Bob, as we knew him, was highlighted in one of Marilyn’s Creature Features. He was a favorite of many of the keepers. His body was taken to our diagnostic lab to be necropsied, which is standard protocol for all of our animals. This is to try to learn the cause of death, and to glean any information that might help us careRead more
Adopt an Animal for the holidays
We’ve started a new way for you to help the Museum animals that you love. The proceeds from the adopt-an-animal program go directly to helping care for our animals. If you’d like to learn more about the program, click here. This may be the perfect gift for someone in your life.Read more
Big Word of the Month: Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis is a word of Greek origin that roughly translates into “virgin creation”. You may remember learning about asexual reproduction at some point and recall that it involves an organism producing offspring without mating or exchanging genetic material with another individual. Parthenogenesis is a special type of asexual reproduction seen in organisms that produce seeds or embryos. You might be surprised to learn how widespread this type of reproduction is in the Animal Kingdom. In the Invertebrate world (90% ofRead more