Can you find the fox in the photo? If you don’t see the Gray Fox in the photo, don’t worry, I’ll show you where it is in a few minutes. I catch glimpses of our resident Gray Fox about every other week. Sometimes it’s a quick look as one of them rushes across the path, sometimes I see a fox stopped on the path eating fallen fruit (mulberries in spring, persimmons in fall, etc.) and sometimes it’s just a yelpRead more
Posts filed in: Mammals
Marmots in the Grass!
The handsome brute above was seen feeding on spilled sunflower seeds in Catch the Wind. We’ll be seeing more Woodchucks, marmots, or whatever you wan to call them, as the season moves along, the air cools, and they feel the urge to fatten up for the big sleep. There are at least six different groundhog burrows scattered around the Dino Trail, Catch the Wind and Explore the Wild, so you’re chances of seeing a groundhog are pretty good during theRead more
Anybody Home?
Over the past winter I often heard loud noises coming from the attic area over the vending machines in Explore the Wild. It sounded like someone was moving furniture around! I suspected squirrels, or maybe raccoons. On Saturday, June 4, I think I found out who was making that noise, at least the offspring of those noisemakers. I heard the soft chirping of a raccoon coming from somewhere above as I stopped in the shade to sip water in theRead more
Fire!
For the past week there has been a fire burning in eastern North Carolina. What’s the connection between a fire in eastern NC and the Museum of Life + Science here in Durham, why write a post about that fire? Well, besides the smoke drifting in to the Triangle on today’s easterly winds, that fire is burning in Alligator National Wildlife Refuge. Still, what’s the connection to us at the Museum? The Red Wolves we have here at the MuseumRead more
Beaver in the Bear Enclosure!!??
If you happen to be at the Black Bear Overlook and see a smallish (compared to the bears) gray-brown mammal pop its head up, look around, and then scoot along the grass, it’s not a beaver, it’s a Groundhog. Several people have come up to me in the past month and told me that they had seen a beaver in with the bears. Although beavers and groundhogs are both mammals, rodents, and look somewhat alike, the critter in the bearRead more
Gray Squirrel Goes Out on Limb
Having never tasted the little fruit of an elm tree I can’t vouch for its flavor, but each year the squirrels are at it as soon as the fruit forms on the trees. . . . . . . . . . . The fruit is apparently better when still green, like peas or snap beans.Read more
The Fox and the Squirrel
As I stood near the top of the boardwalk, unsuccessfully attempting to photograph a squirrel stripping a pine cone of its seeds (the squirrel kept turning its back to me just as I tripped the shutter) I noticed a reddish-brown and gray colored object quickly move out from under some exposed tree roots to my right. It was a bird, a large, brightly colored sparrow. It was a Fox Sparrow. I hadn’t seen a Fox Sparrow here at the MuseumRead more
Winter’s Here!
The calendar says that winter has arrived. What’s been going on in Explore the Wild? Raccoons make nightly sorties around the Wetlands in search of food, which can be anything from persimmons to tadpoles, or a raid on the trash receptacles along the paths of the Museum (the trash bins are emptied each day before closing so the pickings are slim there). Raccoons are not the only animals roaming Explore the Wild. The tracks below were left in the snow aRead more