Our final tour to the Zoo's hospital brought a new group of guests and a bright, chilly, Zoo bunny-less morning. (The Zoo bunnies have been sleeping in while the mornings are cold.) The vet arrived and led the group the long pretty route to our final destination. After everyone had gathered in the exam room, the vets brought out a cute little Bufflehead duck, a diving bird whose name comes from a combination of "buffalo" and "head" due to its often bulbous quality. She was having a bit of an eye issue, so the vet took a peek in a way similar to how a doctor would check out a human patient's eyes. She'll receive a couple of eye drops that will fix her right up!
After yesterday's Stroll, the educator and I got to hear about today's main attraction, so today's educator and I were really excited to see something that none of us has ever before seen in person: a pangolin! This awesome little creature is actually a scaly anteater, though it looks like a walking artichoke. It's name comes from a Malay word meaning "something that rolls up". They live in both Asia and Africa, and there is both an arboreal and a terrestrial type. Most have only one baby at a time. It's scales are soft at birth, and the keratin hardens as they get older. Babies spend the first couple months of their lives clinging to their mother's tail. If she is alarmed, she will curl in a ball around the baby to protect it. The terrestrial pangolin lives in burrows; some central burrows are so large a man can stand upright in them! They are incredible problem solvers and have strong claws and prehensile tails. Using these long strong tails as balance, they can actually move up to five miles per hour on just their hind legs.
This pangolin girl was nice enough to pose for an example radiograph for us. Actually, she was a bit too curious about her surroundings to really stay still, but the vets managed to snap a quick shot. One interesting thing in the picture is that you can see her scales. Also, toward the bottom of her abdominal cavity, you can see the long curved bone that attaches the tongue. Pretty unique to this species, the tongue anchors far back in the body. Even so, it can still extend from their mouth up to sixteen inches!
The pangolin went back to her boyfriend, and we went upstairs to the medical library. We were treated once more to the hospital's camera system. We saw all of the building's different areas, then a fly river turtle. Finally, we were treated to three red river hogs currently in quarantine. They had been hiding during the first hospital visit! Our vet answered several great questions, then it was back into the Zoo for muffin time. Thank you to each of the vets, techs, and educators that made this month's Surprise possible!
Our final tour to the Zoo's hospital brought a new group of guests and a bright, chilly, Zoo bunny-less morning. (The Zoo bunnies have been sleeping in while the mornings are cold.) The vet arrived and led the group the long pretty route to our final destination. After everyone had gathered in the exam room, the vets brought out a cute little Bufflehead duck, a diving bird whose name comes from a combination of "buffalo" and "head" due to its often bulbous quality. She was having a bit of an eye issue, so the vet took a peek in a way similar to how a doctor would check out a human patient's eyes. She'll receive a couple of eye drops that will fix her right up!
After yesterday's Stroll, the educator and I got to hear about today's main attraction, so today's educator and I were really excited to see something that none of us has ever before seen in person: a pangolin! This awesome little creature is actually a scaly anteater, though it looks like a walking artichoke. It's name comes from a Malay word meaning "something that rolls up". They live in both Asia and Africa, and there is both an arboreal and a terrestrial type. Most have only one baby at a time. It's scales are soft at birth, and the keratin hardens as they get older. Babies spend the first couple months of their lives clinging to their mother's tail. If she is alarmed, she will curl in a ball around the baby to protect it. The terrestrial pangolin lives in burrows; some central burrows are so large a man can stand upright in them! They are incredible problem solvers and have strong claws and prehensile tails. Using these long strong tails as balance, they can actually move up to five miles per hour on just their hind legs.
This pangolin girl was nice enough to pose for an example radiograph for us. Actually, she was a bit too curious about her surroundings to really stay still, but the vets managed to snap a quick shot. One interesting thing in the picture is that you can see her scales. Also, toward the bottom of her abdominal cavity, you can see the long curved bone that attaches the tongue. Pretty unique to this species, the tongue anchors far back in the body. Even so, it can still extend from their mouth up to sixteen inches!
The pangolin went back to her boyfriend, and we went upstairs to the medical library. We were treated once more to the hospital's camera system. We saw all of the building's different areas, then a fly river turtle. Finally, we were treated to three red river hogs currently in quarantine. They had been hiding during the first hospital visit! Our vet answered several great questions, then it was back into the Zoo for muffin time. Thank you to each of the vets, techs, and educators that made this month's Surprise possible!
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