This month’s Big Word post will allow me to rant about one of my pet peeves while also reporting on some recent discoveries in Biology. The term cryptozoology is rooted in the Greek word “kruptos” which means “hidden”. So cryptozoology literally means the study of hidden life; sounds pretty cool, huh? Unfortunately, folks who call themselves cryptozoologists usually spend there time looking for animals like Big Foots and Loch Ness monsters. Even more unfortuately, major news outlets spend way tooRead more
Posts tagged: #museum
Copperhead on grounds
One of our adult volunteers came across this dead baby copperhead snake (left) while walking our donkey Lightning last Thursday, and brought it to us so that we could use it for educational purposes. I thought it would be a great chance to compare a North Carolina copperhead to a Texas copperhead (right), which is what we have on exhibit here. The North Carolina copperhead has an hourglass pattern on its back, whereas the Texas copperhead has large bands asRead more
Interesting phone calls
We get lots of phone calls from people: anything from animal donations, questions about care, advice about wildlife situations, questions about job openings, can I buy a Santa Train tickets, etc. Some are more interesting than others, but I thought I would be honest and share them all from a three day period, August 25-27: A man called and had a snapping turtle he wanted to donate. My mother called returning my message about a sculpture I am planning toRead more
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine . . .
Those who know me know that I’m not a big believer in signs and omens. However, I was greeted with this site on a recent morning upon entering the yard of Max the Steer. I thought maybe this was a warning about something bad, but in reality it never hit the fan and the day was uneventful. If you are not sure what you are looking at, this is the fence around the steer/goat yard and the large cooling fanRead more
Spotlight: Volunteer Judi
We have so many volunteers helping us, but none have been here longer than Judi. Judi started volunteering back in 1993, at least that’s when I think she started! Judi has an incredible eye for detail: it’s one of the things that makes her a great animal caregiver. In the photo she is preparing food for our owls, which includes adding their Cosequin dose (yup, owls can take Glucosamine and Chondroitin supplements too!) Most of the time Judi helps withRead more
EnrichBits: A New Place for Nimbus
EnrichBits: A monthly look at animal enrichment You may have noticed on your last visit to the Museum, that our farmyard rabbit Nimbus has recently made a move out of her hutch and into the space where our chickens lived. When we decided to retire our 2 older Dominique chickens (they moved to a great home in Tobaccoville where Keeper Larry’s friend is taking care of them), we figured that yard and stall would be a great place to houseRead more