DRT Live Animals Field Trip

The DRT held another field trip, this time, to the Museum's Live Animals Collection on Oct 15, 2019.  You can double click on the images if you prefer to enlarge:

Chuck's Pictures (Terry's pictures to follow afterward):

 

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Lunch at Morton Fig on the USC Campus

Terry's Pictures:

LIVE ANIMAL PROGRAM UPDATE OCTOBER 2019 Time for another episode of Animal Updates brought to you by the Vertebrate Live Animal Program Manager, Leslie Gordon! Want to hear more about a specific topic? Let us know! Hi everyone! A lot of you have been asking about some changes in the Nature Lab habitats. ANTS The ant habitats have been looking different lately. Believe it or not, even ants can get pests! They have mites that we think might be coming in on some of the natural materials. Since we can't clean each and every ant we are repeatedly cleaning and freezing their substrate and climbing structures. Then we trade it out and repeat the whole process weekly in an attempt to bring down the overall level of mites. Unfortunately it looks a little empty right now, but we are hoping it's just temporary. It's just easier to keep it clean when there's not so much stuff in there. Think of it like a little ant hospital. And wish us luck! TURTLES Speaking of empty, obviously the turtle habitat is still waiting to be repaired. We still have to get some serious engineering consultations about why it cracked in the first place, though we think we found what caused it. Hopefully we will rebuild it stronger and easier to access. In addition to all of that, the redesign we had been working on fell through because it was going to cost way too much. So now we are going to reredesign! And it's gonna get emptier before it gets fuller, so please be patient with us, and keep people off of it once we start demolition. As an aside, some people have asked me why we don't just put another animal in there. There are multiple reasons including: it's no longer a stable structure, and we just don't have an animal that would fit the nature lab story + also be happy in something that size. (Except for the turtles, that is.) Even placing the Toads temporarily was a massive undertaking to get the labels re-written, etc. But I do appreciate the ideas and interest. Just a bit longer! flip over LIVE ANIMAL PROGRAM UPDATE OCTOBER 2019 OPOSSUM As some of you may have heard, Ham, our dear opossum finally passed away. She was very old, at three and a half. She lived an extremely long, very healthy life, and had a peaceful end. She was a lucky girl! But she will be missed. We will be looking to replace her, but it's not as easy as it seems. Despite there being so many opossums out there, our permits require that the animal be turned into a rehabber with injuries that obviously prevent it from being released into the wild (such as the damaged eye that our last two opossums had). This must also be certified by a veterinarian. On top of that, we need it to be below 3 months of age or it will be very hard to acclimate. So we are just waiting for that special animal, with special needs to come our way. Sadly, so many are injured by dogs and cats that it shouldn't take too long. RATS The new baby rats are starting to acclimate quite nicely to being held and fed by hand. We expect sometime in the next few months we will be retiring the older rats, who are now about two and a half. They will get to come live out the rest of their lives behind the scenes. We will let everyone know when the new group is released on exhibit. That's all for now! Thanks for your care and concern about the animals. And please remember, if there are any concerns from a visitor whatsoever about our care, or the habitats, that you do not hesitate to call us to come out and meet with them. It is important that visitors understand how well cared for every animal is, and we are always excited to share! Leslie, Forest and the Animal Care Team Leslie Gordon Manager, Vertebrate Live Animal Program Natural History