A Turnabout for Little Bear

Top Photo: Little Bear (right) and Murray Bear “play” with each other in the bear enclosure. It seems, that all of the sudden, 4 year old Little Bear and 2 year old Murray Bear are best buds. Previously, Murray would attempt to engage Little, as well as much older Mimi Bear (21 yr) only to get growled at and chased away. Little was often antagonistic towards the youngest and latest addition to the bear enclosure. In the recent past LittleRead more

Ghost Pipe, Treefrog, Sphinx, Yellowjackets, and a Large Skimmer

Top Photo: Ghost pipe growing and in bloom among ferns on Dinosaur Trail. Ghost pipe, or Indian pipe, though resembling a fungus is actually a flowering plant. The plant’s tissue does not contain chlorophyll and it doesn’t photosynthesize its own nutrients as most plants do. It has to rely on other sources to maintain itself. Ghost pipe gets its nutrients by tapping into fungi which themselves are tapped into nearby tree roots. Each summer the plant sends up white translucentRead more

Bears and Wolf on the 3rd

Top Photo: Who is that? Why, it’s Little Bear working at extracting marshmallows from a patriotic block of ice. The Animal Care Team placed the block into the bear enclosure following a scheduled yard cleaning. The blocks consisted of juices and fruit, and of course marshmallows. Blueberries were in the blue section, strawberries in the red. Three blocks were included in the celebratory event (one for each bear) though I failed to get a shot of Murray Bear working hisRead more

Red Wolf Pups

Top Photo: New father Oka watches over his three pups in the red wolf enclosure. While Martha stays within the safety of the wolf enclosure’s den by day (she’s visible on camera) Oka remains vigilant on the ridge above the den. He’s also been responsible for bringing food in the form of lab rats to Martha and the pups, who try, but have yet to break the solid food barrier. Here’s a few photos to introduce you to the, asRead more

Nest Box Update 5.13.25

Top Photo: Eastern bluebirds eggs. All nest boxes appear to be quiet, mid-way through the season. There are currently two nest boxes with nesting material. The remaining four are empty and waiting for a second brood. ——————————— The nest box at the Cow Pasture has twigs placed inside by a house wren but it doesn’t appear as though it’s been added to in the last week. The Explore the Wild, Sailboat Pond, Into the Mist, and Parking Deck East nestRead more

Mimi and Her Spring Shower (and other bear stuff)

Top Photo: Mimi relaxing. It’s spring, The air temps are rising and all of our bears are out enjoying the changing season. Mimi can sometimes be found in the plunge pool of the black bear enclosure. She genuinely seems to enjoy just sitting there. It’s an exclusive springtime thing, she’ll swim and wade later in the summer, immersing herself in the two deeper pools of water at her disposal below the falls. All the bears, our 21 year old femaleRead more

End of Winter Musings

Top Photo: Oka patiently waits for his companion Martha. Mating season for red wolves is January and February. With a 63 day average gestation period most red wolf pups are born in April or May. The majority of red wolves we’ve housed here at the museum were active during January and February, and have indeed been photographed while tied together. I’ve most often photo’d the wolves while they were mating during the third week in February. Martha, our female, spendsRead more

Spring Is In The Air

Top Photo: Canada geese are back. It’s not officially spring, but signs of its arrival are peeking through. Canada geese usually show up in February. With them comes the first signs of spring. The geese are here to attempt a nest. This has become a popular place for our state’s non-migratory, local breeding Canada geese. Many local birds were out and about showing off spring behavior, like the downy woodpecker below. This male was drumming on a much too thinRead more