Perched on a tree inside the bear enclosure, a gray squirrel shows its appreciation for corn-on-the-cob (1/19/12).

I should say that the squirrel in the photo very much appreciates the animal keepers here at the Museum. It was the keepers who tossed the corn into the Black Bear Enclosure. The corn was meant for the bears to eat but the squirrel beat them to the punch.

Happy squirrel.

I had seen a sharp-shinned earlier in the day as it skillfully maneuvered through the trees behind the Lemur House chasing song birds. Sharp-shinneds eat song birds. The bird that I was looking at perched up by the wolves appeared to be the same bird as I had seen earlier. It missed catching the object of its pursuit through the wolf yard as it had that morning.

Just as quickly as it had arrived, the hawk was gone, off through the woods behind the wolf enclosure.

I noticed the female wolf, the huntress, pawing at something near the bottom of the fence at the top of the ridge. All of the wolf’s attention seemed concentrated on that one spot. Because of the angle, I couldn’t see what she was doing, although it appeared as though she had caught something.

The animal department had placed a few “cardboard sheep” in the enclosure earlier in the day as enrichment for the wolves. The boxes are made to look somewhat like sheep with legs, head, tail, and have sheep’s wool attached to give it some authenticity. The wolves typically tear them apart and you can see pieces of wool throughout the enclosure soon after the “sheep” are placed in the enclosure. Perhaps the wolf was playing with a piece of “cardboard sheep.”

After a few minutes of pawing, female 1287 turned around and I could see what looked like red feathers hanging from her lips. She turned again, this time a male cardinal dangled from her lips. She had captured a cardinal!

When the sharp-shinned hawk came zipping through the trees a few minutes earlier, all of the birds that had been peacefully feeding on the ground and shrubs inside the enclosure scattered. Apparently the cardinal had either slammed into the fence in the panic, or had sought shelter behind a rock up at the top of the wolf enclosure, which turned out to be not a rock, but a wolf, and was quickly pounced upon.

Once again, I did not have my camera with me, this time because it was raining (poor excuse, I know).

However, this little event demonstrates that what may be a tranquil, peaceful, even boring, scene at the time can turn into something very exciting, very quickly.

Red Wolf 1287 shows her appreciation for squirrels.

The last week in December was a very busy week. Many visitors were in town and it seemed most of them were at the Museum. Even with all of the activity, on Saturday (12/31) the Red Wolves were resting, as they often do in the afternoon, at the top of the enclosure and up near the fence. It was an unusually warm afternoon and there was a crowd of viewers at the Wolf Overlook.

Late in the day, two Eastern Gray Squirrels thought it appropriate to have a territorial dispute, inside the Red Wolf Enclosure. The wolves weren’t doing much but sleeping so most of the viewers’ attention turned to the squirrels. Female 1287, however, was tuned in to the commotion as the squirrels chased each other around the leaf litter and onto and around the tree trunks. The wolf was down the slope and on the scene in what seemed like two bounds.

The squirrels, apparently oblivious to the wolf, chased one another around and up a tree trunk when one of them fell or jumped to the ground. The wolf leapt at the squirrel, missed and the squirrel was up the tree again with the wolf at its heals.

The squirrels, who were more concerned with settling their dispute than being dinner, continued to chase one another in the branches above. Again, one of the squirrels fell to the ground, but this time 1287 was too quick for the squirrel. She snatched it, shook it and put an end to the squirrels’ quarreling.

The wolf takes her prize up to her favorite spot at the top of the enclosure.

The wolf walked back and forth with the squirrel for several minutes before deciding to bury it.

Female 1287 prepares to bury the squirrel for later use.

As there were very many visitors at the Museum, and it was near closing time, I had already put away my camera when the wolf snagged the squirrel. Kicking myself, I quickly ran to get the camera and was fortunate to make it back in time to get at least a few shots of the wolf with its prey before the squirrel was buried.

By the way, Squirrel Appreciation Day is coming soon. Stay tuned.

On the pavement near the Wetlands Overlook (12/10/11).

This (above) is what greeted me as I made my rounds during the morning of 10 December, a Saturday. Obviously, the white and beige colored splatters are bird droppings. But what bird, and what are the larger brown masses?

“Oh good,” I whispered to myself, “another mystery to solve.”

I thought at first that the brown blobs were flattened raccoon scat after being trod upon or run over by one of the Museum vehicles. But there weren’t any subsequent marks on the pavement on either side of the brown blobs caused by the next step of whoever may have stepped on them or by the rotation of a wheel moving over the area.

Getting closer I noticed that there were pieces of crayfish, what looked like small bones, some fur and even some grasshopper parts mixed in with the brown goo.

A closer look.

Crayfish claw (top center), grasshopper femur (just right of bottom center) and at least two tibiae (thin red objects on far left), and various other animal parts can be seen in this close shot.

These brown masses of exoskeleton, fur and other animal parts appear to be a pellet, although a very wet pellet. If you’ve had any grade school biology you may have taken apart an owl pellet before. Typically they are oval shaped objects, dark gray and full of fur and bones. They consist of the parts of animals that a hawk or owl can not digest and which is subsequently coughed up unto the ground. These owl pellets are usually rather solid objects and not wet, flattened masses, as what was before of me on the pavement.

Two grasshopper femurs. The one on the left looks like a Differential Grasshopper leg, the other could be the same or perhaps a Red-legged Grasshopper.

More leg parts of both crayfish and grasshopper and an insect wing, probably a grasshopper (just left of bottom center).

So what ate the grasshoppers, crayfish and whatever else was in the pellet and then sat in the tree above the pavement coughing up and pooping out the leftovers? I think we can eliminate a hawk. The local Red-shouldered Hawk would definitely eat all of the animals represented in the pellet but when hawks void themselves they lift their rear ends and shoot the excrement out at an angle. The splatters on the pavement do not indicate that they were applied at an angle. They appear to have been dropped straight down onto the pavement.

How about a Great Blue Heron? It’s certainly possible. Herons eat all of the above, and more. They cough up pellets. They defecate on our walking paths. What’s more, they do it in the manner displayed in the photos. But so do owls. And these pellets are large enough to have come from either a Great Blue Heron or a Barred Owl.

Great Blue Heron, stalking in the Wetlands.

I’m torn. I want it to be an owl that left these pellets. An owl is much more mysterious than a Great Blue Heron. You don’t see owls every day, unless you work with them as an animal keeper or are a bird rehabber. It’s much more romantic to think that the night before, maybe just a few hours ago, an owl had been sitting on the branch above. Perhaps it was sitting there on that same branch as a crayfish crawled out of the Wetlands, crossed the pavement, was spotted by the owl and scooped up and eaten on the spot. The owl then rested, preened, got rid of some extra baggage, then flew off into the woods at dawn to sleep away the day in a pine tree.

Barred Owl, resting in a pine tree.

As much as I’d like it to be an owl, it was probably a heron that left the stained macadam for me to find that morning. But, I still don’t know for sure. Both Barred Owls and Great Blue Herons are residents here at the Museum. Both have opportunity to eat the same foods and to sit in a tree above the path and cough up pellets. However, the more liquid nature of the pellet makes me lean towards the heron.

Who do you think left the grasshopper, crayfish, and other parts on the path through Explore the Wild?

Scrambling over the leaves in search of food for the nest.

What's this?

Dig a little deeper.

A pine cone.

This one needs a little work.

After a few minutes of striping off some scales and eating a few seeds, it was off to the nest to store the cone for later use during winter.

Pine cone delivered to the nest and stowed, the squirrel is ready for a new adventure.

A wise squirrel prepares for the future.

I’m asked that question on a daily basis by visitors here at the Museum. Unless there is a sign indicating that the wolves are off exhibit due to veterinary care, the answer is always “Yes, the wolves are always out.” They’re not always easy to find though.

Our Red Wolves typically rest during the afternoon. They’re pretty much the same color as the clay based soil here in the northern section of the Deep River Basin that Durham lies within. In fact, their brown and gray hued pelage blends in well with any natural landscape in the southeastern part of the country. And that is the problem, when the wolves are still, as they are when they’re resting, they’re hard to see.

Most of the time the two wolves are fairly close to each other when they nap. Lately the male has been favoring a cozy spot between two large Loblolly Pines near the top of the enclosure. The female is typically either directly above the male or above and to the right of him, but by no means is she always visible. There is a rut in the dirt along the fence at the top of the enclosure, when she lies down she often disappears within the rut with only her ears showing, if that.

Althouhgh in this shot the female is directly above the male, she often picks a spot to the right of the two trees.

The wolves don’t always choose these two spots to lie down, but these have been favorites of late. Occasionally the female will go into one of two dens (in the mound directly in front of the overlook) but she doesn’t stay long, maybe she’s sniffing out the den for possible future use later in the season.

It's often a turn of the head that reveals the male's position as he cozies up between the two pines.

The trees in the photo are located just to the right of center in the enclosure as viewed from the overlook.

The white box outlines the area in the top photo.

The best way to find the wolves, though, is to grab me (that’s me in the upper left of the blog). I can’t guarantee that I’ll locate both of them for you, but I’ll try.

Good luck!

Male Red Wolf #1369 howls in answer to a siren off in the distance.

To the delight of a group of children visiting the Museum Wednesday the Red Wolves got into a howling match with a fire engine (11/9). At times, sirens set the wolves off but it has to be the right frequency and distance from the Museum for it to work, not every siren works for them.

Snakes are still being seen, due in part to the warm weather we’ve been experiencing the past several days. An Eastern Garter Snake surprised a young visitor Tuesday afternoon by sliding across the pavement in front of her next to the Wetlands Overlook and a Northern Water Snake was at the Main Black Bear Overlook Wednesday (11/9).

Northern Water Snake at the Black Bear viewing area. Is that a slight bulge midway down the snake's body? Probably one of the slow moving frogs that are lingering in the area.

See you in the Wild.

Where am I?

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 yelp or bark coming from the woods.

Ranger Kristin spotted the fox in these photos as it was munching on some unseen object in the dried swamp (the swamp has now filled with water after TD Lee passed through) just below the secondary Wetlands Overlook. By the way, there is a persimmon tree just about where the fox was first seen.

The fox pauses to look at us, looking at it, as the wily critter continued on its way through the underbrush after finishing its meal.

Were you able to find the fox in the top photo? If not, scroll down and have look.

Here I am!

Keep your eyes peeled!

=======CORRECTION  BELOW (9/19/11)=======

It’s been pointed out to me by Wendy Aldwyn, Art Director here at the Museum, that I have the head facing the wrong way in my outline of the fox. The correct outline is below.

The correct attitude of the fox as outlined by Wendy.

Enlargement of head area.

When first looking at the photo, I saw that the ears on the fox were facing to the left and assumed that the fox had its head turned back over its shoulder. You can clearly see the gray fur of its body next to the tree (above). Apparently it had turned it ears backward, listening to some noise behind it, not its entire head.

Another clue as to which way the head is turned is the reddish fur on the side of the neck. The reddish fur is more to the rear of the ears on a gray fox, not in front of the ears.

Wendy’s outline also gives the fox another front leg, some toes, and more detail in the face (she is, after all, the Art Director).

Thanks Wendy.

A Groundhog feasts on black oil sunflower seeds at the Bird Feeder in Catch the Wind.

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 the next few months.

Have fun!

Who's that?

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 the heat of that humid, June day. Looking up I saw…

A young raccoon peered down at me as I drank water. The youngster was making a soft purring sound, probably impatient while waiting for its mother to return with some food from the Wetlands.

Never a dull one out there.