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 exhibits and enjoy some wintry fun. At first, the coyotes, wolves, and bobcat enjoyed playing in the white fluffy stuff, but after a few days, they decided it was much better to sleep in their dens than be out in that cold wet stuff. During the time of the snow on the ground, the animals were given access to their yards and their dens so that they could choose to go out and play in the snow or snuggle down into a nice warm and dry bed of straw in their dens. At a couple of the exhibits, I placed extra beds of straw out on their exhibits and they liked the island of dryness and warmth in the middle of the wet and cold.
During the cold weather and snow, the bobcat had a cozy nest of straw to keep her nice and warm while on exhibit.
A few of the animals had to be pulled off of exhibit and placed into our support areas behind-the-scenes due to the extreme temperatures. We had pelicans in the indoor exercise room, the exhibit skunk in our animal room, and the raccoons had their very own setup in the holding area. They all seemed very appreciative to be out of the cold and wet. But now that the temps are warming up, everybody has returned to their homes outside on the trail.
So now that the days are getting longer and warmer, the animals are waking up and getting active and I hear the spring peepers heralding the arrival of spring.
