Can Snakes Swim?

YES! All snakes can swim. It’s not just specialized snakes, like Sea Kraits, that can swim and dive. Water Snakes, Copperheads, Water Moccasins, Garter snakes, Anacondas, Ribbon snakes, Rat snakes, and many more are often found near bodies of water. Even the arboreal snakes of the world like Green Tree Pythons and Mangrove snakes are competent swimmers. The museum grounds are home to a number of resident snake species; including the only venomous snake species in Durham, the Copperhead. WhileRead more

Pine Snake breeding

We’re going to be trying to breed Northern pine snakes this spring. We have males and Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury NC has a female. I’m sure Mikey will write more about the process so look for that coming up. In the meantime, here’s a photo of the female that will be making her way to us in March. She’s about 6 feet long. She’s being held by Mike Lambert, one of her human caregivers.Read more

The thrills of working around construction….

You may have seen the previous post that Karyn wrote about new flooring being installed on our support hall. Well, this week has been difficult for the keepers because everything is out of place and out of whack. However, even in light of the craziness that we are currently enduring, people are working through it like champs. In fact, we are trying to find amusement in the chaos wherever we can. The fact that we have to crawl through theRead more

Henry Explores Carolina Wildlife

This is Henry our Woodchuck otherwise known as a Groundhog.  The other morning, before we opened, Keeper Sarah gave Henry some much needed exercise time, in the people area of Carolina Wildlife. He enjoyed running back and forth, chasing us when he could, and checking out the exhibits. Then Keeper Katy came out and gave Henry a little tour of the snake exhibits. Henry is one of our more active inside animals so we make sure to give him lotsRead more