A Look Back … Part 1

Let’s take a look back at some of the goings on in the Animal Department. Some of these critters have moved on to further their careers and education, some of them have retired, some of them have passed away and some of them are still with us in the Animal Department, just older and wiser now! I have 10 years worth of memories and pictures of all the happenings in the Department… here are a few of my favorites! KeepRead more

Ursula slide show

I was supposed to post this video the other week but I ran into some technical difficulties with the video. So, as promised… If you have been keeping current with the blog, you have probably read about our bear Ursula. It has been a draining, sad and all around horrible week. I am personally grateful for the amount of support we have received from people in the public and around the museum. Speaking for myself, it has been a rollerRead more

Ursula Gets Spoiled

On Monday, October 17th, Ursula received some special spoiling from the Animal Keepers. This video shows her enjoying the last frozen watermelon of the season (many thanks to those of you who donated watermelons to the Museum this summer). She also clearly loves the marshmallows and acorns she’s been given. The video is about 2.5 minutes, but worth watching every second (at least that’s what I think!). Pay attention to her large paws, how she wrinkles her nose, and howRead more

Videos of Ursula

Here’s a couple of videos that were taken of Ursula over the last couple of years. in this first video, there was a particularly heavy snow that we got one winter and one of our previous keepers, Cassidy, got some video of Urse walking around and digging in the snow. Her thick coat made her seem oblivious to the cold weather and snow that was still falling at the time (you can see some of the snow on her back).Read more
7 Comments

Goodbye Ursula

There’s difficult and yucky parts of everyone’s job, but today, and the days leading up to today, are among the hardest.  Ursula I posted about Ursula in July, and told you about her leg issues. We rested and medicated her for several months. Many of you were kind enough to donate watermelons for her to take her medicines in. Last week she took a huge turn for the worse. She’s been unable to stand up. While heartbreaking, the decision became clear toRead more