You found orphaned or injured wildlife – now what?
May 22, 2020 *If you have found orphaned or injured wildlife (any species), please contact a local licensed wildlife rehabilitator!* For Virginia, search for a licensed wildlife rehabilitator here. For North Carolina, search here. For Maryland, search here. For any other state, complete an internet search of “South Carolina licensed wildlife rehabilitator” inserting your […]
The Little Deer That Could
Welcome to The Nest! My name is Robin Sutker, and I am the Bird and Mammal Curator for the Virginia Living Museum. I oversee all of the Museum’s birds, mammals, and land invertebrates (not your typical combination, I know), and through this blog I hope to share some of the little heard stories with you. […]
Enrichment day means it’s time to play!
Did you know that many of our critters like to play with toys? At the VLM we like to offer different activities to our critters to keep them happy and entertained. Each day we offer up some sort of enrichment activity to a variety of our critters. Sometimes, when visitors come to the Museum, they […]
Old Friends Bring New Beginnings
Hello Critter Friends, I’m writing today to discuss longevity of animals in captivity. At our facility, many of our collection ambassador animals live beyond a typical age for each individual in captivity or the wild. This is a testament to the loving care that we give to our rescued animals that cannot be released into […]
Saying goodbye to a deer friend
Last week, on Friday November 9, 2018, the Virginia Living Museum’s 18 year old White-Tailed Deer doe passed away due to complications of old age. This deer, fondly known as Erica to the animal care staff, came to the VLM around 2000. Erica was an orphaned fawn that came to […]
All Howls Are Breaking Loose
Dracula: [about the wolves that are howling] ” Listen to them: the children of the night. What sweet music they make.” Abraham “Bram” Stoker- 1897 Although this is more of a reference to the wolves in the classic gothic novel, Dracula, this quote holds true in today’s world. Did you know that here in the […]
Handsome fellow
Hey Folks, I’m writing today to let you know that we have recently introduced a young male red fox to our red fox exhibit. Back in November, we introduced a young female fox to the exhibit, and now we have a new companion for the foxy lady. The two young foxes actually arrived at the […]
Foxy Lady
November 29, 2016 Hey Critter Corner fans! In the beginning of November, we had the pleasure of introducing a new young female fox to our red fox exhibit. She will be joining our veteran male fox who has been at the VLM since 2006. The old male fox, who is 10 years old and quite […]
Ooooooohhhhh-Possum!
Did you know that North America only has one native marsupial? It’s called the Virginia Opossum, not to be confused with the type of Possum that lives in Australia. The opossums we have here are a little bit smaller and can be seen at night sometimes foraging around for supper. Many folks are alarmed when […]
Springtime Symphony
Now that the woods and fields are waking up, take a moment to savor the coming of spring. As I walk along the trail, I’m amazed at how quickly spring arrives. You can hear it. You can smell it as the sun warms up the winter debris littered on the ground. It’s a pleasant earthy […]
Oh, Mr Chesapeake Chuck! What are you doing?
One day, I came off of the outdoor trail to the office and to my surprise, I saw our groundhog, Chesapeake Chuck sitting at my desk, looking at Critter Corner on the computer. “What on earth?” I murmured to myself. So as not to startle Chuck, I slowly came through the door. ” Chuck,” I […]
Chincoteague and Assateague: An abundance of wildlife
July is here and many folks begin thinking of Chincoteague and Assateague for the historical and well-known places of the famous wild pony swim that occurs on the last Wednesday of the month. The pony swim and the famous ponies of the Chincoteague and Assateague Islands were immortalized in the classic book, Misty Of Chincoteague […]
