Spring is definitely here and it’s a great time to see the native wildlife awaken. It’s a chance to find some unexpected sights! Ranger Greg’s Blog is awesome, and if you want to see amazing photos of flora and fauna check out his blog. He’s been capturing signs of spring numerous times already. Reptiles we haven’t seen in awhile start to come out. Last week Keepers helped move a copperhead off a path to safety. It reminded me of aRead more
Posts tagged: #snakes
No such thing as a Poisonous Snake… (Part 2)
And now, as promised and to confuse you further, here is the second half of my posting on venomous snakes. For a refresher on the first part, or just cause you can’t get enough of me, here’s a link to the first half. This posting will delve into the different types of venom that venomous species of snakes actually can possess. Oh, and by the way- a little further down is a picture of what can happen to someone’s armRead more
QuikPost: Watersnake catching dinner
I came across this old video that I took of our watersnake catching a fish for dinner. Notice how slow and methodical he is while approaching the fish. And the strike was so fast that it even made me jump! Warning: If you are squeamish about animals eating other animals, you may not want to watch this video. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeLWQ9aL9eU[/youtube]Read more
Hall repairs.
We have a bunch of repairs and upgrades going on behind-the-scenes. On November 8th, there were 4 different contractors doing work in or around the animal department and animal exhibits. The scheduled work behind the exhibits in Carolina Wildlife was to fix a main water valve as well as repair damaged walls behind the scenes. We had to move the snake cages in preparation for the work. Two of the cages were set out in Carolina Wildlife, as seen below.Read more
Volunteer Vox: The Scoop on Snake Poop
I was hoping to write my first Animal Department blog post about volunteering to help clean the bear pool. But, alas, the weather did not cooperate and the bear pool cleaning was postponed. But, I was already at the Museum so I decided to stay and help out with the off-exhibit animals. Maybe you didn’t know that there are many animals who live behind the scenes. These residents are usually used for education purposes (and sometimes they even get toRead more
Creature Feature: Banded Water Snake
This snake came to us in September of 2008, but its estimated birth date was in August of 2007. The previous owners had it for 6 months and then gave it to a pet store, which then donated the snake to us. We are not sure if the snake is male or female, and I am hesitant to speculate due to the most recent mix up with our black rat snake! However, what I am sure about is that thisRead more