If you’re lucky enough to be in Explore the Wild when our wolves begin to howl, you’re in for a treat. You’re heart will quicken. An element of wonderment, perhaps a tinge of fear, will stir in you. Adrenaline will pump through your veins, fight or flight. It’s a wild sound, an emotional sound. It’s a sound of the wilderness. When wolves howl, they’re communicating with one another. That communication may be an attempt to locate or socialize with members of theirRead more
Posts filed in: Mammals
Quick Quiz
Take a look at the photo below and see if you can identify the subject. If you said “the tail of an eastern gray squirrel,” you’d be correct. Now that you know what it is, did you know that eastern gray squirrels grow little tufts of white fur on their ears in winter? Eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) are everywhere in the east. From east Texas to Saskatchewan and east to the Atlantic Coast gray squirrels are a familiar sight.Read more
Red Wolf Forecast
If you’ve been following events here at the Museum you no doubt already know that we have a new female red wolf. She came to us from Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center in Chattanooga, TN back in November with the hopes of breeding with our male red wolf. Whether or not these two wolves come together is entirely up to the individuals involved, the wolves themselves. With cautious optimism, I will say that they seem to be getting alongRead more
Red Wolf Update 11.28.16
Since the introduction of our new female red wolf (1858), she and the male (1784) seem to be getting along well. I’ve noticed only one minor, and very brief, altercation and a few bared-teeth displays when food is present. This is normal behavior. If you’ve ever had more than one domestic pooch in your house at a time, you’ve probably seen the same or worse. The two wolves forage and even rest close to one another, a good sign. Breeding seasonRead more
Sleeping Raccoon
T’was a fine mid-November morn as I walked through Catch the Wind. I’d stopped to look through the partridge pea patch across from the signage which introduces Catch the Wind to hikers, walkers and strollers making their way around our outdoor exhibits. In the fall, partridge pea produces many pods filled with copious amounts of seeds. As the pods dry, they twisted upon themselves forcing the seeds to propel themselves out away from the plant. I was hoping to collectRead more
Red Wolf Release
The female wolf paced back and forth within the kennel. The male, sensing something was about to happen, watched intensely. They’d both been waiting for two weeks for this moment to arrive, and here it was. The female was about to be released into the main enclosure after having acclimated, as best she could, to her new surroundings. She’d come from another facility one state to the west of us and was now going to become part of the exhibit, theRead more
Red Wolf Update
Our new female red wolf has arrived. She came to us from Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center in Chattanooga, TN. She is 5 years old and is part of the federal Species Survival Plan (SSP) for red wolves, one of the most endangered species in the world. Although she arrived at the Museum on Thursday evening (11/3), she is currently spending her time in the kennel area of our Red Wolf Enclosure while she becomes accustomed to the sights,Read more
All in a Day’s Work
It was midday on a hot, muggy day in June. There were four juvenile raccoons on an island thirty or so feet from the boardwalk where I and two museum visitors stood watching them. An adult raccoon (I assume the mother) was in the lead. She was trying to coax the little ones into the water. What were the raccoons doing on the island? There’s a wood duck nest box on the island. It was installed about five years agoRead more
Howl, Howl, Howl
Since I last reported on the howling of our wolves, how, up until recently, I’ve heard the male wolf howl perhaps three times over the past year, he has changed his routine. I now hear, and see, him howl on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times each day that I’m here on duty. I’m told, that the female had joined in on at least one occasion within the last few days. So, if you’re out and about in Explore theRead more