Top Photo: Eastern gray squirrel stares from railing. Gray squirrels are all over the campus of the Museum of Life and Science, and they’re quite tame. If you have a bird feeder in your yard you’re probably all too familiar with gray squirrels. Despite their frustrating ability to eat most of what you put out for the birds, you have to hand it to them, they’re crafty beasts and can be fun to watch. Small, frenetic and always on theRead more
Posts filed in: Mammals
Oak
Top Photo: Oak, female red wolf. Our new wolf Adeyha has been getting much of the attention lately, but at present, our female, born April28, 2014 is the one you most often see when you visit the Red Wolf Enclosure. Here she is in a series of photos taken a few days ago. On occasion, Adeyha, her potential mate, has been curled up out of view inside the den, directly in front of the overlook. I was able to getRead more
Adeyha
Top Photo: Adeyha’s shaky first steps into our Red Wolf Enclosure. Born in May of 2014 our new red wolf is a nine year old male. He arrived onsite from Naibi Zoo in Coal Valley, IL. to his new home here at the museum Tuesday night October 24 and was placed in the kennel area of our Red Wolf Enclosure. The gate to the kennel was opened Thursday morning and out he came. He spent most of the morning cautiouslyRead more
Gus Bear in the Water!
Top Photo: Rare sight in Black Bear Enclosure. It’s not often you see Gus Bear in the pool below the waterfall. He just doesn’t like to get wet. Mimi, yes, a frequent swimmer. The heat of the past few days has apparently altered Gus’s thinking. Though, the look on his face is not one of total commitment or enjoyment. Cool, but very wet.Read more
Turtle Nest
Top Photo: Eastern painted turtle heads back to water after laying eggs. Painted turtles come ashore each spring and summer to lay eggs. They deposit 2 – 6 eggs in a hole dug by themselves. The eggs take from 70 – 80 days to hatch with some young remaining in nest until the following spring. The turtle’s eggs, like the other aquatic turtles in our wetlands, are frequent victims of predation by terrestrial mammals, raccoons, foxes, and even squirrels. WhenRead more
More May Sightings
Top Photo: Common snapping turtle contemplates its next move. The snapping turtle pictured here was heading towards our wetlands. It may be a new arrival, having come up the creek which lies a dozen or so meters behind it. The creek is where our wetland drains. There’s a substantial drop where a large pipe delivers our wetland’s overflow into the creek. The drop keeps creatures like this snapping turtle from continuing their journeys via a direct route to our wetlandsRead more
Barred Owl Experience
Top Photo: Circle marks spot of barred owl nest. Barred owls are year-round residents here at the museum. They’re not always seen, but they’re always here. Some years the owls are spotted on a regular basis, but most years their presence is only realized though an occasional, resonate “Who cooks for you-all” or even just a single “you-all” coming from somewhere back in the woods near the stream that runs through our campus and eventually into Ellerbe Creek. This year,Read more
Mimi Enjoys a Swim
Top Photo: Mimi Bear prepares to go for a swim. Born in 2004, Mimi is the oldest of our four black bears. She spends much of her time sleeping on the boulders out in front of the cave in the black bear enclosure, especially in the cooler months of the year. But when it begins to heat up, you’ll likely catch her taking a dip in the moat in front of the main bear overlook. She fancies a solitary morningRead more
A Change in the Air
Top Photo: Yona (right) approaches Little Bear at pool in Black Bear Enclosure. Its wasn’t long ago that Yona Bear was a loner among loners, always off by herself. She was aggressive towards the other bears in the enclosure. It seemed, she had a chip on her shoulder. Black bears by nature are solitary creatures, but Yona, our second youngest bear of the four in the enclosure, was even more of an isolationist. She was habitually off on her own,Read more