Top Photo: Red Wolf family in September 2025 at Museum of Life and Science before departing for Wolf Conservation Center. Martha on the left, Oka on the right and Ember, Proton, and Scuppernong in the middle. Oka and Martha came to us through the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, NY in the fall of 2024. They’ll be heading back to their old stomping grounds this fall, November to be exact. This, after having a litter of three strong andRead more
Posts filed in: Mammals
Otters
Top Photo: River otter cruises by. Standing on the boardwalk that surrounds the shallow pond in Explore the Wild I could see one, no two, brown objects on the far side of the wetlands surfacing, shaking off then quickly diving back under the water’s surface. Could they be a couple of female or young male hooded mergansers that didn’t migrate to their breeding grounds, too young to breed and dropping in to the local ponds to see what’s available inRead more
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
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
Otters and More
Top Photo: River otter latrine. Our roughly three acre wetland drains into a small creek which connects with Ellerbee Creek. Ellerbee eventually flows into the Eno River and from there Falls Lake, all part of the Neuse River watershed. These creeks, rivers and lake are the trails, roadways and highways in which river otters and other aquatic animals move across the countryside. I occasionally see one or two otters in our wetland, but their visits are usually marked only byRead 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
Lucky Squirrels
Top Photo: Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) with apple. Eastern gray squirrels are known for their industrious foraging behavior. Besides their nonstop foraging for natural food items like elm seeds, pine nuts, walnuts, mulberries and other naturals, depending on the season, they’re constantly in and out our many trash receptacles here at the museum. The natural… They pull everything out of our trash receptacles from crackers to candy, and even sometimes healthy food like apples. It seems like a goodRead more
Middle March Sightings
Top Photo: Pickerel frog (Lithobates palustris, formerly Rana palustris). Pickerel frogs are calling from the wetlands. I saw several on the path in Catch the Wind, Explore the Wild, and on the service roads after the chilled rain during the second week of March. A few were flattened by vehicles. Some apparently survived and made it to the water. More frogs have joined the chorus this week. One of the two larger trees in the following photo has been struck byRead more