The fine weather of the past week has brought out some old friends. A large female northern water snake that likes to spend her spring days basking in the sun under the still bare branches of the dawn redwoods at the base of the boardwalk is back doing just that. Look for her on the right side of the boardwalk as you walk down the last descending portion of the boardwalk. Although a few common snappers haveRead more
Posts filed in: Mammals
News From the Wild
Top Photo: Two young males and a female hooded merganser. It’s definitely spring and things are happening fast. Here’s a handful of observations from Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind. Still hanging in there as part of our wetlands avifauna are three hooded mergansers. The trio consists of two males in juvenal plumage and a female (not sure of her age). While the ducks were resting on an island just off the boardwalk in ExploreRead more
Things are Getting Heated with Red Wolves
Ever since red wolves 1784 and 1794 were released in the Museum’s Red Wolf Enclosure, the male has followed the female wherever she roamed, relentlessly. She, wanting no part of him, would allow no closer than perhaps a dozen feet between them before she would turn, bare her teeth, arch her back, and, if necessary, lunge at him. Our female is entering estrous and she is now allowing the male closer approach, although she still holds him back with aRead more
Tracks in Ice
As I stood on the Main Wetlands Overlook, I noticed a track of smooth ice coming from the willows on the north side of the Wetlands and heading directly towards the platform on which I stood. The track was frozen over, but frozen over more recently than the surrounding ice. Obviously, some creature had swum through the ice when it was slushy, creating a trail and the trail had subsequently frozen over. I looked over the rail at theRead more
Cold Outside
That’s right, it’s cold outside. It’s been in the teens most of the day (2/19) with single digits forecast for tonight and early tomorrow. You can always go out and see who or what has been leaving tracks in the snow. Don’t let the cold keep you from enjoying the out-of-doors. Of course, dress warmly, but don’t let lack of heat stop you from doing what you want to do. Oh,Read more
Into the Darkness
I happened to be at the Red Wolf Overlook late in the day on January 31 when I noticed the female sniffing around the entrance to the man-made den inside the wolf enclosure. The den is in the enclosure to facilitate the birthing and rearing of pups, should our wolves successfully mate this season. The entrance is directly in front of the overlook. There is a camera mounted on the ceiling inside the den. Our previous male red wolf (#1414)Read more
It’s Time to Eat
Top Photo: Gray squirrel enjoys food from a relatively safe location, trash bin. The red wolf in the above photo has something hidden behind the pine tree to its left. The animal keepers entered the red wolf enclosure today (1/30/15), as they do every day, to feed the wolves. The keepers typically toss about meat balls throughout the enclosure, on rocks, in clumps of grass, halfway up the hillside in the enclosure, for the wolves to sniff out andRead more
What’s all the ruckus?
As the red wolves relaxed, two male yellow-bellied sapsuckers, one of them a young bird, began to scuffle over who the trees inside the wolf enclosure actually belong to. The woodpeckers chased each other around the trees, flying back and forth, shuffling around and around the tree trunks. The female wolf carefully watched the fracas. At one point, the sapsuckers took off in aerial combat, fluttering to the ground. The wolf was up andRead more