Well it’s been three weeks since our second annual Groundhog Day Celebration and Eddie, our groundhog, is getting back to normal.
It was a long process getting our little hoggy ready for his big stage appearance. In early December the wildlife staff began preparing Eddie for his big day. Since I have the pleasure of being Eddie’s primary keeper I was glad for the opportunity to spend some extra time with him.
Twice a day for six weeks we worked on a variety of behaviors: target, station, scale, and kennel. These are the behaviors that Eddie would be demonstrating to the crowd in Murch Auditorium on Groundhog Sunday. The first three weeks of training we worked exclusively in the Animal Room, where Eddie resides. It was during these sessions that Eddie had free run of the Animal Room. He really seemed to enjoy exploring every nook and cranny and on more than one occasion his poor whiskers were so weighed down with the accumulation of cobwebs that he looked like a well-used mop.
For the following three weeks, fellow wildlife specialist Michelle and I took Eddie to the Auditorium to desensitize him to the stage and the acoustics of the room. Eddie, being a true showman at heart, did exceptionally well.
Attendance at the museum during our Groundhog celebration was just shy of 1000 visitors. There were plenty of activities for young and old alike: tunneling like a groundhog through a makeshift burrow, face painting, crafts and activities, story time, and live animal programs highlighting Ohio hibernators. But the main attraction was Eddie. During Eddie’s Auditorium debut, visitors were entertained as well as educated as to the wondrous ways of one of Ohio’s true hibernators. After the show visitors were invited on stage to get an up-close encounter with Eddie via a plexi-glass corral constructed just for this purpose.
It was a great day and I eagerly await next year’s Celebration. Until then we will let Eddie just sleep the rest of the winter away. Oh to be a Groundhog…
Danette Rushboldt
Wildlife Specialist
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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