Top Photos: Green treefrog peeks out from frog pipe in Earth Moves. It may be hot out there, but at least their’s plenty to look at to get your mind off the temperature, somewhat. If you’re going to take a photo of a silver-spotted skipper, do it fast, they don’t sit still long. You never know what or who you’re going to run into. Yes, it’s hot, but you can’t see any of these things sitting inside with the A/CRead more
Posts filed in: Mammals
Dinner Time at Red Wolf Enclosure
Top Photo: Oak, the pups, and Adeyha. Come see what’s going on at the Red Wolf Enclosure in Explore the Wild.Read more
Cicadas and Other Things Around the Campus
Top Photo: Magicada tredecim, one of two species of periodical cicadas emerging this spring in the Central Piedmont of North Carolina. You’ve most likely heard about the emergence of two broods of cicadas this spring, Brood XIII and Brood XIX of seventeen year and thirteen year periodical cicadas, respectively. Here in Durham and surrounding counties there is no overlap of the two broods but there are two species emerging at the same time from Brood XIX. Magicada tredecim and MagicadaRead more
Red Wolf Play
Top Photo: Oak in the grass. Oak, our female red wolf on display in Explore the Wild, is the more active of the two wolves in the enclosure. You’re more likely to see the sleek Oak trotting about the enclosure than the big lumbering male Adeyha. Here, in true Oak fashion, she romps in the tall grass of the compound. On the other side of the enclosure… The object of Oak’s attention is a deer pelt given her by theRead more
Lemurs Eat, Tree Swallow Inspects, and Chickadee Nests
Top Photo: Lemur relishes redbud flowers. As you all know, or should know, redbud flowers are edible. To me, they have a sweet, crispy taste. They make a nice topping on a salad. Lemurs eat redbud flowers too. They seem to enjoy the colorful flowers with uncommon delight, as recently displayed by our resident ring-tailed lemurs. The flowers were placed in their enclosure by the Animal Care Team (ACT) and were quickly pounced upon by the primates. Here’s a fewRead more
Awakenings
Top Photo: Adeyha and Oak (front) sticking close. It’s February and the season for procreation begins. Red wolf Oak is in estrus, Canada geese have arrived, hawks are soaring above screaming out their intentions, and songbirds are ramping up their melodious twitterings. Oak and Adeyha have been much more attached to one another over the past week, estrus has arrived. As of yet, I’ve not witnessed a tie, which is required for the female to become pregnant. Each year inRead more
Red Wolf Behavior
Top Photo: Oak (back) attempts to get a reaction from her enclosure mate Adeyha. This is the time of year I start to look for courtship or mating behavior in our wolves. All red wolves are born in April or May. Given the gestation period for red wolves averages 63 days, now through the end of February is the best time to witness breeding behavior in our red wolves. If it happens, it will happen soon. Our female seems toRead more
Adeyha and Anole
Top Photo: Adeyha makes appearance in red wolf enclosure. Seen more often than not inside the enclosure’s den via the den-cam, Adeyha can, at times, actually be seen walking around the wolf habitat. Here’s a few shots of the large (last weigh in at about 44 kg) male red wolf just before he sneaked back into the den to recline. Adeyha seems fond of the den, at least during daylight hours. Oak, our spirited female, likes to roam around theRead more
Wolf Cam
Top Photo: Panoramic of the Red Wolf Enclosure. In the spirit of enhanced viewer experiences, the Animal Care and Exhibits teams work together to bring the best experience possible to members and guests at the museum. It takes team work to get the job done. A new infrared light needed to be installed in the wolf den. Invisible to wolf occupants, it brightens the view for us when used with infrared cameras. The den had to be cleared of wolvesRead more