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…
The Virginia Living Museum relies heavily on its large corps of volunteers and interns, many of which come from local high schools and colleges. In fact, over 40% of VLM employees were once volunteers here as well. Recently we hosted Julia Horigan from Deep Creek…
Lazily swimming in the Woodland Pond exhibit is a colorful little reptile known as an Eastern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta). Named for their vibrant red and yellow colors, these aquatic turtles are the most widespread native turtles in North America, and are commonly found all…
October was a busy month for the VLM Herps team and November is shaping up to be equally challenging. In addition to the multitude of daily, weekly and monthly tasks performed by the department, the herpetology team has branched out, working on special projects to…
On the morning of May 1, 2015, animal keeper/trainer Carrie Bridgman found a lethargic and seemingly dazed ruby throated hummingbird inside the River Otter exhibit. She brought the beautiful little creature inside our husbandry building to allow the otters into the exhibit without them having…
Oyster reefs are one of the most productive habitats in the Chesapeake Bay; hundreds of species of aquatic plants and animals grow on and among their shells. The oysters themselves improve water quality and clarity by filtering sediment and plankton out of the water. The…
This is the first chance I’ve gotten to sit down and say hello to you critter fans. We’ve had a busy spring! Back in March, we received some egrets and black-crowned night herons from the Aquarium in Virginia Beach. After a quarantine period, we placed…
In recent years, the conservation movement has really amped up, and now many people around the globe are striving to make changes to save the natural world. Due to habitat loss, poaching, over-hunting, pollution, climate change, disease, and a host of other threats, thousands of…
Hello, Critter fans! We’ve had quite a time of it this past winter with the cold weather and snow that came in February. After the last big snow, we spent many hours cleaning up the animals’ areas so that they might get out into the…
Newport News Shipbuilding designs new flood gates for the Virginia Living Museum It took many hours of trial and error, but the Virginia Living Museum now has new flood gates, thanks to the efforts and generosity of Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls…