News From The Mews

It was time for a beak trim for Otto the Great Horned Owl. As long as he was down for the procedure, I also planned to replace the leather equipment on his legs. I cut off the old anklets with difficulty, navigating around bunches of fluffy leg feathers, and was surprised how stiff the leather felt. I tried folding the old leather strip in half and heard a snap. It was so brittle that a crack had formed along the length! The leather didn't break completely, but it was still good that I had replacement parts ready to go. These new strips were lathered in a protective grease to keep the leather supple until their next replacement. 

I noticed recently that the rope on Carson's perch was rather smooth. Smooth surfaces are rare in nature and can cause foot problems for our raptors. It was time to re-rope the perch! I unscrewed the perch from the wall and removed the old rope. I carefully wound the new sisal rope tightly around the 2x4 and reinstalled the perch. When Carson returned to her mew, she looked indifferent. But I like to think that she appreciated my handiwork! 

I started recording our snakes' behaviors  in 2023 and invited Museum visitors to contribute their observations while visiting the Curiosity Center. A QR code routes to a form where staff or visitors answer questions about what the snakes are doing. Where is the snake? What is she doing? How does she respond if you move in front of her window? I checked in on the results this week and was pleased to see so many responses, over half of which were submitted by visitors. One commented, "Love this interactive info request!" I'm so happy that this project has given people a new way to interact with our live animals! Not surprisingly, the data pointed to two common reptile characteristics. Both Digger and Emory spent the most time close to their heat lamps, and they both spent most of their time motionless. As ectothermic animals that can't create their own body heat, it makes sense that they spend time in warm places and conserve energy by resting. I also noticed trend...