Check out this video our keepers took of our red tailed hawks enjoying the rain showers this morning! ๐ง๏ธ Many birds will take advantage of weather like this to bathe and then later preen all their newly cleaned feathers back into place. ๐ชถ
๐บ Goblin had a ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ good time with yesterdayโs pride enrichment. Wolves love to use their noses & explore new scents (just like pet dogs), so we hid a very special scent in the middle of each paper puff!
After gently sniffing to check out the new smells, the real excitement began: Goblin pulled the puffs out of the ball, tearing them apart to expose the scented material, and rolling in the scent!
There are several theories about why canines roll in exciting fragrances they find: one popular idea is that rolling in scents helps hide the wolvesโ own scent from prey during a hunt, but others have speculated that canines just enjoy wearing new scents like perfume! โจ
Any idea what fragrance was hidden in this enrichment? Drop your guesses in the comments! ๐
๐ Iggy the Blue-Throated Macaw is back! Many guests have been asking about Iggy, and we are pleased to announce that he is back out on exhibit for the summer season.
Iggy loves to talk to and dance with guests at the zoo, so be sure to visit our chattiest and only bilingual animal resident to say โhello!โ or โยกhola!โ during your next trip to Phillips Park ๐
๐ This pint-sized pollinator is deep in disguise: their black & yellow stripes and fondness for flowers makes them easy to mistake for bees, but their true identity is that of a Calligrapher Fly (๐๐ฐ๐น๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ด).
Because of their bee-like appearance, many predators leave Calligraphers alone for fear of getting stung: but these harmful flies neither bite nor sting (except in their larval form, when they have a voracious appetite for garden pests like aphids).
Calligraphers are a type of Hover Fly, an important group of pollinators known for their ability to remain stationary while flying (just like a Hummingbird or helicopter). These under-appreciated pollinators are among the most beneficial insects you can find in your garden:
๐ธ Excellent pollinators
๐ฟ Eat garden pests
๐ฉน Don't bite, sting, or bother humans/pets
๐ Beautiful patterns to look at, and don't fly away when you get close
Bee sure to join us at the Aurora Pollinator Festival on Saturday, June 25th to learn more about the wildly wonderful world of pollinators: https://fb.me/e/2n04afsoL
๐ฃ Will Phillips Park Zoo be open on Good Friday & Easter Sunday? Iggy the Iguana says YES! We're open 9:00am to 4:00pm all weekend. As always, admission is free for all ๐
(If you'd like to help the Easter Bunny fill our animals' Easter baskets, you can send a treat for the animals from their Amazon Wishlist: https://amzn.to/3M3Okrj)
๐ Donโt forget to *snap* your clocks forward an hourโฆ daylight savings time begins tonight!
To celebrate spring being just around the corner, our American Alligators (Alice & Irwin) enjoyed a special springtime enrichment activity: blossom bobbing!
Alligators are known for being apex predators, but scientists have found that crocodilians will also choose to eat fruits and vegetation in the wild (and seem to be able to digest the carbohydrates they contain).
Our herbivore reptiles love to snack on nasturtium & hibiscus flowers, so we thought weโd see what our alligators thought of them: weโll stick to meat for their main menu, but hunting for flowers sure is a fun way to get a little exercise & enrichment ๐บ
Want to learn more about fruit-eating alligators? Head to the Smithsonian Magazine to read all about it: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/kumquat-eating-crocodilians-crocs-and-gators-love-their-fruits-and-veggies-1372378/
Goblin is usually the most stoic and reserved wolf in our pack, but the snow has unleashed his inner pup: he's having a blast while romping, rolling, and snapping at snowflakes ๐ฅฐ
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You might already know that wolves have super-thick coats to help them stay warm in the winter, but they have some tricks for staying warm that we can't see with the naked eye: smarter circulation!
Like most animals, wolves have two kinds of large blood vessels: arteries (which carry warm blood away from the heart) and veins (which carry cold blood back to the heart). When wolves walk on cold snow, the blood flowing through their paws becomes chilled. If that cold blood had to travel up the veins to the heart, the wolf would feel very cold & have to use a lot of energy to warm themselves back up!
Here's where things get interesting: scientists discovered that the veins and arteries in a wolf's foot are so close together that they can exchange heat from one blood vessel to the other. The warm blood in the artery can actually heat up the snow-chilled blood in the veins as they flow past one anotherโ keeping the wolf nice and warm ๐ฅ
This special circulatory system is called "countercurrent circulation," and it's found in the feet of wolves, sled dogs, arctic foxes, and penquins, as well as the ears of jackrabbits and the fins of dolphins!
Countercurrent circulation is so effective in regulating animals' body temperatures that engineers have designed industrial heating & cooling systems inspired by this natural phenomenon ๐ฌ
Tito the Eurasian Lynxโs first taste of his new jungle gym: look at that boy leap! ๐
It looks like Tito is loving his habitat renovations, but donโt just take our word for it: weโre using a scientific process to measure how Titoโs behavior and welfare changes in response to his living environment!
We utilize a research tool called an โethogramโ to track our animalsโ behavior at the zoo: we document where they spend their time (are they inside? Outside? On the ground? In their bed? On the climbing structure?) and what behaviors they engage in (are they running around? Playing with an enrichment item? Relaxing? Sleeping?) throughout scheduled observation periods throughout the day.
When all of this data comes together, it creates a bigger picture of the animalโs overall physical and mental/emotional state. We did a series of ethograms before making any changes to Titoโs habitat, and now weโve started a second series of ethograms now that the installation is complete.
When we compare these two sets of data, we ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ weโll see an increase in time spent outdoors and an increase in species-appropriate natural behaviors like leaping, climbing, playing with food items, and actively observing his surroundings. Those results would help us confirm that the changes made to the exhibit have made a positive impact on Titoโs life here at the zoo ๐
Ethograms arenโt just for zoo animals: you can use ethograms with your pets at home or the wildlife in your backyard! To learn how, check out this video from John Ball Zoo: https://youtu.be/8gxpQBi757U
Happy National Reptile Awareness Day from all of the reptiles at Phillips Park Zoo! Our native reptiles prune native plants for better growth, disperse seeds, provide food for other wildlife, and keep pest populations in balance. Theyโre fascinating, important, and oh so pretty ๐
๐ท Rosemary, our Plains Garter Snake x Eastern Ribbon Snake hybrid
Have you ever wondered how reptiles can open their eyes underwater? Let's take a deep dive with Kendall the Red-Eared Slider!
Humans have just two eyelids (an upper and lower lid), and we can't see when our eyelids are closed; it's also pretty uncomfortable for us to open our eyes underwater (especially in saltwater: ouch)! We often wear goggles or a snorkel mask when we need to be able to see underwater.
Wild animals can't wear goggles, but many have a special trick up their sleeve: a third eyelid called the ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ. This eyelid is translucent, which allows the animal to protect their eyes while still seeing the world around them!
The nictitating membrane can be hard to see, except when it's moving; the best time to spot an aquatic animal's nictitating membrane is when they come to the surface after swimming underwater. Check out this video of Kendall surfacing to see her nictitating membranes in action!
Turtles aren't the only animals with this clever adaptation: nictitating membranes can be seen in reptiles, amphibians, birds, and even some mammals (including polar bears and beavers)! Birds of prey often close their third eyelid while hunting to protect their eyes from getting scratched by prey, and most animals with a nictitating membrane can use it to moisten their eyes or sweep away debris (just how we use our own two eyelids)! Here at Phillips Park Zoo, our aquatic turtles and alligators are the best change to see a nictitating membrane in action.
Happy winking and blinking, Kendall!
