CREATURE FEATURE: Mac

The Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center & Woods Garden celebrates Ohio’s native animals and plants. This 2.2-acre outdoor gallery adjoins the museum via a glass-enclosed exhibit space off of Kirtland Hall. Be sure to take a close look at the Vernal Pool (seasonal pond) teeming with amphibian and invertebrate life. The collection of live-animal ambassadors however does not end there! Within the Museum’s labyrinth of basement hallways there exists the Wildlife Resource Center, aka “Animal Room.” Among the many mammals, herptiles, and even birds in the Animal Room is Mac the spotted salamander, whose name is derived from the second part of its scientific name, Ambystoma maculatum.

Why do we have a spotted salamander? A legislative bill in November of 2007 designated the spotted salamander as the official state amphibian of Ohio. This celebrity is lost on spotted salamanders. They are seldom seen because of their secretive and nocturnal lifestyle, spending most of their time underground and out of sight. However they put their fossorial mode of life on hold come spring-time when they migrate in large numbers to ephemeral breeding ponds (vernal pools). Those intrepid explorers who venture out into the rain on the first mild night after the ice has thawed can often-times be rewarded with the sight of hundreds of migrating spotted salamanders.

The Amphibia class is represented in Ohio by roughly 15 species of frogs and toads and 25 species of salamanders! They represent an ancient and diverse line of organisms. However for all their evolutionary success and longevity, there are serious concerns about their future. A worldwide decline in the numbers of amphibians has resulted in more than one third of amphibian species classified as threatened or endangered. Threats such as habitat destruction, invasive species, disease, and global climate change are to blame. This biodiversity crisis and increased rate of extinction is unfortunately the result of human activities. For more information on amphibian decline and what you can do to help mediate this biodiversity crisis, please visit the Museum’s "Toad-ily Frogs" exhibit through November 30, 2008.

When does Mac meet the public? Mac meets the public during our fun and educational science and nature programs; please visit http://www.cmnh.org/site/ClassesAndPrograms.aspx for a Class & Program overview. Our educators are experts at bringing science to all ages, from preschoolers to adults, and they work closely with Museum researchers to bring you the most current information available.

Marty Calabrese, CMNH Wildlife Specialist

Animal Olympians

After four years of anticipation, the XXIX Summer Olympics have come and gone. Many people tune in to follow the elite athletes do what they do best. These events make me realize the incredible things the human body is capable of with discipline and lots of training. However, it also makes me think about how despite all the talent in the world, we will never attain the talents seen in the natural world.

Part of our responsibilities as wildlife specialists, and a particular pleasure of mine, is doing live animal programs utilizing our collection of exhibit animals and small mammals and reptiles not seen on exhibit. Along with educating the public about the wildlife in their backyards, I like to showcase something extraordinary about each animal I talk about. One of the things I do is come up with a catchy theme that links all of the animals in my program to keep me on task and to elicit a take home message.

How absolutely perfect! I can talk about the physical abilities of Ohio’s wildlife and call them the Animal Olympians. With only natural ability, animals can achieve amazing feats, feats that man can only achieve with artificial means. Visitors can get up close and personal with the Michael Phelps of the animal world, also known as the North American River Otter, bobcats-the high jump champions, peregrine falcons-the speed champions, reaching over 200 miles per hour, striped skunks-marksmanship, and even Virginia opossums for their gymnastic ability (kinda)!

As the Olympics come to an end, as do our daily programs. However we will still be doing shows Saturdays and Sundays at 1:00 and 3:00. As always these programs are free with paid admission and are sure to be a worthy experience for the young and the young at heart, so be sure to check us out.

Robyn Kaltenbach, Senior Wildlife Specialist

The Dog Days of Summer

With the Dog Days of Summer upon us I would like to introduce you to a very special member of the dog family here at the Perkins Wildlife Center - Huxley, a five year old red fox. Huxley came to live at Perkins in the summer of 2007. He is a special animal at Perkins for me in that I have had the pleasure of training him. I think we have a very good working relationship that is hopefully very rewarding for both of us (I know it is for me). The training technique that we use here at the museum is one of positive reinforcement. That means we never punish our animals but rather try to reward them at the very moment when they are doing what we want. The animal then associates the behavior we are trying to elicit with a reward. Since Huxley is a very food oriented animal, he LOVES food rewards for reinforcement. For Huxley a nice piece of fish, ground meatball or juicy mouse always seems to do the trick. YUM!!

So far the behaviors that Huxley has learned are come upon request, station and kennel. Huxley knows to come when I call his name and touch his nose to my finger. He also understands what "station" means. A station is a fixed point in an exhibit where an animal knows to go when asked. Huxley’s station is a log in his exhibit and the completed behavior is for him to stand up on the log with all four feet and wait. The last behavior that I am working on with him is to get him to voluntarily go into a kennel. We are very close to achieving this, but we are still working on it. Training helps build a relationship between animal and keeper and also serves to enrich our animals.

When Huxley first came to Perkins he was extremely leery of people (just what you would expect from a wild fox). It took a long time and lots of reassuring for Huxley to venture out from the back of his exhibit. Countless times visitors would walk right by his exhibit thinking it was empty. But with the help of our dedicated staff, Huxley is now a hit with visitors young and old. So please stop by and say hello to one of my favorite Dogs of Summer!

And speaking of the Dog Days of summer, join the Museum staff on Saturday August 23rd and Sunday August 24th for the 10th Annual Dog Days Celebration at the Museum where we celebrate all things canine. There will be service dogs, rescue dogs, draft dogs, all sorts of dogs throughout the museum's galleries. It is one weekend when the museum goes to the dogs - literally!

Danette Rushboldt
Wildlife Specialist

I have been adopted

It is 5:45 a.m. as my alarm goes off. All I want to do is get some more sleep so I snooze until 6:00. It is another early morning for me as I begin my half awake drive to the Museum. I have made this drive probably 100 times since my senior project in 2005 but never this early. This is because I am no longer a volunteer…I’ve been adopted.
I had the honor of being the Adopt-A-Student in the Wildlife Resource Center over the summer; eight weeks of paid work, which was something new to me. I was part of the staff now, with a blue shirt, jingling keys and a 7:00 a.m. start time. Over the course of my project I helped Robyn with research on our three eastern screech owls, two of which have liver failure and a third who is showing early signs of the problem. It was a very rewarding experience because I learned a lot about bird anatomy, the functions of the medications we use and of course all of the medical names for different kinds of diseases and problems. There were a lot of highs and lows, one being the need to grind up mice and quail and then shipping them to Wooster for analysis and also finding out that the liver problem was liver fibrosis, an irreversible disease. I did a lot of literary research and got a nice self guided tour of Lakeview Cemetery while hunting unsuccessfully for owl pellets.
In addition to working on the project I also helped with daily animal care and enrichment. My first times stepping into the bobcat and fox exhibits were very exciting because I did not do any of that as a volunteer. I had a lot more responsibility being a part of the Wildlife team and I enjoyed every second of cleaning, feeding and doing an occasional animal show. It was cool to see the crows fly to me and the eagles bark at me and the turkey attempt to attack me through the fence because they knew who I was. It was such a rewarding experience and I will continue to volunteer until I got back to Ohio State to continue my zoology degree. While very few questions were answered during the course of my project I have confidence that an answer will be discovered as to why our owls have liver failure. It was fun to be a part of research that could change the face of owl husbandry across the state.

Matt Kneitel, CMNH Wildlife Resource Center Adopt-A-Student

Enriching Eagles

As you may or may not know...the Museum was host to its 3rd Annual Animal Enrichment Day in the Perkins Wildlife Gardens. Enriching the animals is a large portion of what we do here as Wildlife Specialists, however every once in a while our animals return the favor and enrich us in return.

George, our 7 year old education Bald Eagle did something that I will not soon forget. As part of my enrichment for him for the day I placed his diet of fish into his empty water dish, set the hose in it and turned the water on. My goal was to fill the bowl, remove the hose then allow George to "fish" for his food. George had other plans. Possibly motivated by his favorite food, George flew to the tub as it was filling. The frozen fish were swirling around the water dish making it very difficult for George to catch them so.....George grabbed onto the hose nozzle with his exceptionally dexterous talons and gripped it hard enough that it turned the water off. I couldn't believe my eyes. WOW!!!

Our animals never cease to amaze me!

Be sure to check out George, he will be appearing on WOIO Channel 19 on Sunday August 10 around 8:30 am as part of the weekly wildlife feature on the 19 Action News.

Danette Rushboldt Wildlife Specialist