The Urban Pantheist

Tomorrow for National Zookeeper Week (what did you get me?) I'll be sharing my experiences as a Hospital Zookeeper with the zoo guests. I'm a bit nervous about it, so I feel like I should overprepare a bit. This is how I function. I'm going to write myself a script, which will more or less go out the window, since I expect kids to file in and out during the talk, interrupt me, or get bored and look at the fish behind me (the theater is in front of a huge fish tank).( Read more... )

Sorry about the lousy cellphone picture quality, but one croc had its arm on the other and I had to get a picture!
Dwarf Crocodile.

I can't believe I let myself fall behind on snapshots again.  And since I'm bringing the laptop in to be sent away to have the dog hair and coffee cleaned out of it (this will cost 280 dollars or 700 plus, depending on how unlucky I am) I figured I'd better post them now. 

The snapshot above is from last Sunday.  Alex was feeling poorly, so we took Jim with us on an adventure.  He slept on my lap on the way there.

American black bear Ursus americanus


Black bears are the smallest and most common of the three bear species found in North America. They range from northern Canada to central Mexico in a wide variety of habitats. Their success comes from their broad omnivorous diet, adaptable behavior patterns, and lack of natural enemies. Their main predator is man, but they also do well in the presence of humans, which generally deters other predators such as wolves and mountain lions. Black bears also feed on human refuse and make use of man-made structures as shelter.

Black bears live about 10 years in the wild and up to 30 in captivity. They range in size from about 80 pounds up to 800 for truly huge males. Despite their name, black bears can vary in color from individual to individual, from cinnamon in color to deep blue-black. Rare white black bears are even reported. Human encounters with bears are statistically much more likely to be lethal for the bear. Black bear attacks on humans are extremely rare.

Two American black bears are the newest zoo animals at Zoo New England. Bubba and Smoky (pictured) were orphaned wild bears discovered in Georgia and raised by the good folks at the Appalachian Bear Rescue. Wildlife officials determined that the cubs were unreleasable, and that they would have to be placed at a zoo or euthanized. The two year old brothers are on display in a newly built exhibit at Stone Zoo, on the former location of the polar bear exhibit, where the beloved polar bear Major lived until his death in 2000.

About urban black bears.

More black bear information.

( More pictures of Smoky exploring his new home )

Continuing the theme of connections between my last job and this job -- Addie, a cow transferred from Drumlin Farm to the zoo about 7 years ago.

In an unused part of the zoo, a rubber-and-fabric mat has been thoroughly colonized by moss.

Bucket of electric fence parts, on ice.

No one, with the possible exception of vampyrusgirl has a chance of being able to tell what this is.( Read more... )

My coworker Courtney recommended that I start the snapshot project up again, on the condition that I photograph things so closely that they are abstract.