Skunklets!

One week ago the wildlife department acquired two female baby skunks, Willow and Lilac. The captive-born, hand-raised kits will be trained by the wildlife staff for use in educational programs. Pictured below is Lilac on the day she arrived at the museum.



The wildlife staff is enjoying socializing the young skunks and acclimating them to their new home. Both Willow and Lilac are responding well to their surroundings and like playing with each other and (to our delight) with the wildlife specialists.



Michelle Leighty
Perkins Wildlife Center Co-Manager

Red-tailed Hawk Creature Feature

In this video Wildlife Specialist Dylan Beach talks about Meep, our male Red-tailed Hawk:

Coral Reef of Creatures

The Climate Change exhibit opens at the museum today, and includes a living component of a coral reef which the Wildlife Resources staff helps maintain.

Check out this video with Director of Wildlife Resources Harvey Webster to learn more!

Peregrine Falcon Creature Feature

Wildlife Specialist Melissa Terwilliger introduces Horus, our newest Peregrine Falcon in this video:

Make Way For Ducklings!

Check out the freshly-hatched ducklings in the museum's courtyard!

Red Fox Creature Feature

Wildlife Specialist Michelle Leighty introduces Huxley the red fox in this Creature Feature video:

Feeding the Raccoons on their Stations

I took this video a couple of days ago while I was feeding the raccoons, Nobbum, Kelly, and Brad.




They are trained to stand on assigned stations (in this case large tree stumps) before getting their food. There are several reasons the wildlife specialists have trained the raccoons to exhibit this behavior. One is that it is an easy way to keep track of how much food the raccoons are eating and to make sure each is getting its fair share. Feeding them this way also prevents aggression and fighting that may result if the food was scattered around the exhibit. One of the raccoons is on a daily supplement and it is very easy to hand her the medicine in food on the station and ensure that one of the others is not getting it instead. Station training is also helpful for weighing the animals. The wildlife specialists can place a scale on top of the stump and then ask the raccoon to stand on it. Daily training exercises also help keep the animals mentally healthy.


Michelle Leighty, CMNH Wildlife Specialist