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Hello Buffalo

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Hello Buffalo

We are so excited to meet today’s animal. They are large and in charge and have a pair of horns you don’t want to come close too!

Tanzania

Cape Bufffalo Fun Facts:

These large bovines can weigh up to 1,500 lbs. They can grow over 5 feet at the shoulder.
They are considered one of the big 5 species in South Africa. That includes, lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and Cape buffalo.
Those large horns are a part of their skeletal structure. Males have larger horns than females and can grow up to 5 feet.
The large area of the horns on the forehead of male is called the boss.
These large herbivores may only eat grass, but they are dangerous. They can charge without notice.
They are fantastic swimmers.
Cape buffalo live in herds of 50-500 individuals. Younger males form bachelor groups within the herd. Older males may be solitary.
The are listed as LEAST CONCERN by the IUCN.

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We wouldn’t say the Cape buffalo is the cutest animal on the block. You definitely do not want to get too close. A charging buffalo is not a cute buffalo.

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, endangered species, Environment, horses, insects, lizards, Local, turtles, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

BRER RABBIT AND FRIENDS!

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Ellie and Edmond ©

“BRER RABBIT AND FRIENDS”

We went to the Center for Puppetry Arts to check out their new show “Brer Rabbit and Friends”. To describe it in one word- FANTASTIC!! This show is a collection of stories that were gathered by local Atlanta writer Joel Chandler Harris. He gathered folk tales from African American slaves in the 1800’s and reproduced them in the Atlanta newspaper and then in books.

We love folk tales that use animals to tell stories and the center’s interpretation of these old stories is fresh and fun! There are live performers who play themselves and the four characters; Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, Brer Fox and Sister Mud Turtle. These great performers also play live music throughout the show.

The set is a country house in the woods and the performers start out with a great song! The narrator then sits at the piano and takes us through the tales, including one about how smart Sister Mud Turtle is and one about a laughing contest! Brer Rabbit is always outsmarting the mischievous team of Brer Fox and Brer Bear.

Sister Mud Turtle showing how Brer Bear who’s smarter.

We sat in a full house and everyone, parents and kids were laughing and singing. Of course, Edmond cannot resist the good music and he too was tapping his hooves throughout and Ellie was swinging her trunk too. We don’t want to give away too much of the plot because the stories are so funny when you don’t know the plot twists!

Singing!

Tapping along to the music!

We always enjoy the shows at the Puppetry Arts center, but “Brer Rabbit and Friends” is probably our most favorite yet! The music was great, the performers outstanding and the stories fun! It is so great to see the passing down of stories that have been told for years and years. We highly encourage you to hop down to the briar patch at the Center for Puppetry Arts and see “Brer Rabbit and Friends”! And if you don’t live in Atlanta, pick up a copy of Joel Chandler Harris’ stories and share them with a kid in your life! For more information on show times and ticket, check out the Center’s website.

You can make your own Brer Bear take home puppet like this one!

Categories: adventure, Animals, Atlanta, Children, folk tales, Local, Puppets, rabbits, wildlife | Tags: adventure, animals, atlanta, children, education, folk tales, nature, puppets, wildlife | Leave a comment

BUTTERFLY DAY!

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

BUTTERFLIES!!!

The Dunwoody Nature Center just north of Atlanta had a Butterfly Festival recently and of course we had to go! Our good pals Trevor and Ayden came with their parents, so it was a party for everyone!

Butterfly Festival here we come!

We had a lovely time exploring this neat little nature center and all the festivities they had throughout the day! First up we saw a Birds of a Prey show presented by Nature’s Echo.

We’re getting ready to meet some birds of prey!

The ladies from Nature’s Echo had 3 birds with them; a Mississippi Kite, a Screech Owl and a Red Tailed Hawk. These amazing birds were so cool to see up close and we learned some super neat facts about them!

A Mississippi Kite’s eyesight is so keen they can see every wing beat of a hummingbird’s wing.
Owls have 14 vertebrates in their necks.
It is illegal to own a raptor feather in the state of Georgia.
An owl’s ears are off set on their head.

Mississippi Kite having a snack!

Mississippi Kite- gorgeous!

Screech Owl! They are really small!

Edmond & Trevor meet the kite!

We met a red tailed hawk!

Check out this talon! Wow!

They had a wing you could touch and feel!

Wow! Raptors have some super cool adaptations! We really enjoyed meeting these gorgeous birds!

After the birds of prey show we wandered around the nature center’s grounds to check out the fun activities and vendors! You could make crafts, enjoy treats or get a bug tattoo! We wanted a tattoo but we couldn’t decide where to put them.

This butterfly is made of bottle caps! Reusing items to make art is awesome!

We ran into this wonderful bear in his National Park outfit!

Handsome bear!

It finally was time to enter the butterfly tent and man, were we excited! We could hardly contain ourselves! Luckily we learned some fun butterfly facts as we waited in line!

Butterfly facts!

More fun facts!

We finally made it in the tent & there were butterflies everywhere! They were all different sizes, shapes and colors! We just loved meeting each one of them!

Butterfly sits on a feeder!

Black & yellow butterfly!

Can you spot the butterfly?

See the tiny butterfly above us?

Trevor & his mom helped us find this lovely butterfly umbrella!

One last gorgeous butterfly shot!

Our last stop of the day was inside the nature where we met some local beekeepers and sampled their honey! Yum! We could see the inside of the hive and we spotted the queen thanks to one observant boy who found her! Did you know that they queen has a yellow spot on her back? Cool!

Beehive!

Honey samples! Delicious!

We had the best time at The Dunwoody Nature Center’s Butterfly Festival! If you’re in Atlanta you should check out this special nature center and all their fun activities!

Categories: adventure, Animals, Atlanta, backyard, Children, conservation, education, Environment, insects, Local, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: animals, atlanta, backyard, butterflies, children, conservation, education, environment, local, nature, science, wildlife | Leave a comment

TENNESSEE AQUARIUM ROAD TRIP!

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Field Trip to the Tennessee Aquarium!

Recently we took a road trip to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tennessee and man did we have a great time! The Tennessee Aquarium has not one but TWO buildings to explore! The first one is dedicated to fresh water habitats and the second building houses some of your favorite ocean dwelling animals! That’s right everyone, you can spend your day visiting animals from all over the world and that is exactly what we did!

We started out hanging out in the plaza, getting the lay of the land and deciding on where we should start.

Out front of the Aquarium!

We decided to head into the Freshwater building first! There, they not only have great animal exhibits, but they have Ranger Rick’s backyard safari!

We headed down to check this area out and catch a live animal encounter! We stayed to meet some cool birds, including the Galah.

Our next stop was to check out some sea horses and their relatives! They are just so cute!

Pipefish

Piprfish

A sea dragon

We then boarded the escalator that takes you to the top of the building, where you make your journey through cool freshwater habitats! Isn’t it neat that you start from the top and make your way down to the bottom!

A really biiig tree!

This is where we met some adorable river otters!

Otters have a good time!

These guys are so playful and graceful; we could have stayed there for hours! But alas, we had to keep going, there was much more to see!

Then as we kept exploring we stumbled upon some amazing amphibians! Check out these frogs and newts!

Poison Dart Frog!

Newt!

We’re even bigger than this guy!

Next was a big exhibit with all kinds of reptiles, fish and birds! They all live in one habitat, because that’s how it would be in the wild. Well, the American Alligator was separated from the other animals, but that’s understandable.

Alligator tail!

Turtle party!

Turtle and ducks getting along!

Off we went to find turtles and tortoises! Two of our favorites in this exhibit were the Indian Star Tortoise

Indian Star Tortoise

and the Long neck turtle.

Long neck turtle!

Wow, turtles and tortoises come in so many shapes and sizes! The big exhibit in this building was shut down while we there, because the aquarium was prepping for their new exhibit River Giants! That’s ok, because it just gives us a reason to go back :)! We just love all the conservation messages that the aquarium has all around too!

We need to protect our rivers!

We took a lunch break to refuel before heading over to the second building! We chomped on some apples and hay by the Tennessee River. As we were sitting there we watched a wild Great Blue Heron have some lunch too! He scooped up a fish from the river and swallowed it whole! YUM!

Heron! Look closely and you’ll see the fish in his throat!

Having lunch by the river!

After lunch, we were ready for our second adventure for the day! We found a lovely habitat that took us to basin of the Amazon!

Tropical!

We first found some very spotty fresh water sting rays! Did you know that there are rays living in rivers? Pretty cool!

Stingrays!

Then we found a pair of Hyacinth Macaws! These beautiful big blue birds were so much fun to watch! We stood there for a good 15 minutes or so watching their antics!

upside down!

It’s the pair!

Our favorite shot of the day! Bonk!

So pretty!

These gorgeous birds are the largest flighted parrot on the planet!

We then stumbled into the butterfly habitat! Edmond was excited because he just loooves butterflies! We had a hard time getting pictures of these insects as they fly away so very fast. But it was so fun to find them.

Do you see the butterfly?

As we headed out of the warm, humid habitat that the butterflies live in, we began to get colder. Yep, we were getting close to the penguin habiat! The aquarium has gentoo and macaroni penguins and they are so cute! They were getting ready for breading season and gathering rocks to make nests. The penguins are very picky about the rocks they choose and work very hard to make the nests! Be careful though, penguins have been known to steal other penguin’s rocks!

Penguins!

He’s getting a rock to build a nest!

We finally went off in search of sharks!

Thanks goodness we found a shark cage!

And we were in luck, because they have them at the aquarium! Too bad we couldn’t get a photo of them, but they have to keep swimming in order to breathe.

So it was off to meet some cephalopods! We chilled out and watched the octopus for a while! He was very active and just fascinating!

Octopus!

Look at those suckers!

Ooooo…

We wanted to cuddle with the cuttlefish we saw, but they weren’t up for it. Oh well, maybe next time.

Hello cuttlefish!

As we made our way out, we stopped for a photo op!

It feels like we’re in the ocean!

Our last stop of the day was at the IMAX theater where we saw a movie about coral reefs!

Lobby of the IMAX theater! We have but one world to share!

Coral reefs are one of the most amazing habitats on the planet! It made us want to go snorkeling immediately!

We had an amazing time at the Tennessee Aquarium! If you’re ever in Chattanooga, you have to go there! They do a great job with their exhibits, their animals and their conservation message!

On our way home! We had a great day!

Categories: adventure, amphibians, Animals, Children, education, Environment, fish, Local, nature, oceans, octopus, penguins, rivers, science, turtles, wildlife | Tags: amphibians, animals, children, education, environment, fish, nature, oceans, rivers, science, wildlife | 1 Comment

We Get the Scoop on Poop!

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Scoop on the Poop!

That’s right folks you read the headline right, we’re talking poop today! We took a field trip one of our most favorite places, Fernbank Museum of Natural History. We went to check out their new exhibit “Scoop on the Poop” that opens Saturday May 26^th. We had such fun learning all kinds of fun poop facts! We giggled, we cringed and we were amazed! Be prepared to the same with 10 Great Moments in Poop!

10 GREAT MOMENTS IN POOP!

1) Elephants are super duper poopers! One elephant can poop up to 80 lbs of waste a day! Wowzers!

Ellie is a Super Dooper Pooper!

Elephant Poo!

Yep! We’re sitting on fake poop!

Guess your weight in poop!

2) Caterpillars throw poop to ward of predators! Yuck!

Whaaa?

3) Poop makes great fertilizer! People have used it for thousands of years to help them grow their crops!

Poop helps crops grow!

4) Sloths only poop once a week! What????

Sloths are fascinating!

Check out this cutie!

5) Poop trivia steals the show!

It’s true!

6) Tree seeds are dispersed through animal poop!

Cool! Animal poop makes new trees!

This Box Turtle dispenses seeds in it’s poop! They especially love berries!

7) Poop is a great way to mark your territory!

Spread your poop- mark your territory!

8) Scientist use poop to learn about animal’s lives!

Scientist tract scat to learn about animals!

9) Yes Edmond, there is fossilized dinosaur poop!

Dinosaur fossilized poop!

Edmond is touching real poop!

10) You can make paper out of poop! Who knew?

Cute paper products made from poop!

We’ve just hit the highlights of this fun and sometimes gross exhibit! There is so much more to see and do! You can meet live animals during encounters; pretend you’re a dung beetle and learn how to track scat (that’s another word for poop). If you ask us, learning about poop is a great way to spend a day!

Dino poop!

We met a Blue Tongue Skink named Sydney!

Hanging with our pal Giggy! Don’t worry he’s super nice!

Fernbank is also starting their 97 days of play this weekend! They have all kinds of fun stuff planned throughout the summer including Reptile Day (a personal favorite of ours), Claws and Paws Weekend and the Scoop on Dinosaurs event! Check out their website for all the fantastic details!

Categories: Animals, Atlanta, Children, education, Environment, Local, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: activities, animals, atlanta, children, education, environment, local, nature, science, wildlife | 2 Comments

We Go on WILD ENCOUNTER at Zoo Atlanta!!

We have WILD ENCOUNTER at Zoo Atlanta

Wowee! We were invited to Zoo Atlanta for a Wild Encounter with Slasher the Komodo dragon! That’s right folks, we went behind the scenes to meet and feed mice to a Komodo dragon! Zoo Atlanta is starting a new program on March 31^st called Wild Encounters where you can go behind the scenes and meet a Komodo dragon, an elephant or a panda! How cool is that? Well let’s just show you!

First we met outside of Slasher’s habitat. Our guide Shelby gave us instructions and some great information about Komodo Dragons! (60/72)

Slasher the Komodo dragon!

Shelby our Wild Encounter guide!

Did you know that komodo dragons live in Indonesia? They live on 3 different islands including Komodo Island. They are considered vulnerable, due to habitat loss and loss of some of the prey they eat. Slasher is a big guy and we were so excited to meet him! The humans were given booties to cover their shoes and a glove to wear on the hand that would hold the tongs!

Aren't these booties attractive?

Off we went to behind the scenes of the Komodo dragon habitat, where we were greeted by a reptile keeper. He showed us a skeleton of the Komodo dragon skull and some teeth!

Komodo dragon skull! Look at those teeth!

Wow these lizards have a mouth of serrated teeth that fall out often are replaced by teeth behind them, kind of like sharks. We finally met Slasher, where he was waiting for lunch!

We were given a pair of tongs with a small mouse on the end to feed Slasher. Each person took turns giving Slasher one mouse and he chomped those down in one bite!

Slasher getting a mouse!

We also learned that komodo dragons have a special organ or third eye on their head that helps them detect light and dark! Isn’t that amazing? Soon, everyone had given Slasher a mouse and he went back into his habitat. It went by so fast, but WOW, it was such an amazing experience! We were so thrilled. We sat and watched him for a bit as he lounged around.

We're watching Slasher! Edmond was too short & had to sit on Ellie!

He probably was a bit sleepy after eating all those mice. Normally you would have to head all the way to Indonesia to see a komodo up close and let us tell you, that is long trek! But all you have to do to enjoy a WILD ENCOUNTER at the zoo is get in the car! Want to learn more? Of course you do! Check out the zoo’s website! Trust us- you’ll be so happy you went!

We had such a great time meeting Slasher. We didn’t want our adventure to end, so we made a stop at the new Twiga Terrace.

Welcome to Twiga Terrace!

Did you know that twiga is the Swahili word for giraffe? FUN! Zoo Atlanta is opening a new feeding station for giraffes, also on March 31^st. We stopped by to see the zoo’s giraffes and give them some tasty romaine lettuce. We had a hard time not eating the lettuce ourselves. The zoo has four giraffes, Mona, Glenda, Abu and Lily (the baby)!

Hanging with the giraffes!

Glenda came on over to sniff out our lettuce and to take a nibble.

Glenda!

We could just watch giraffes for hours! They are so graceful and beautiful!

Aren't they gorgeous?

You can feed the giraffes too! Check out the zoo’s website for more info! After such an amazing day, this elephant and horse were tired! We headed home with great memories of a fabulous adventure!

It’s a great time of year to get out and enjoy Zoo Atlanta! Did you know that when you visit the zoo and feed giraffes and have Wild Encounters that you’re helping support the animals at the zoo and their wild relatives! COOL! Zoo Atlanta is one of our favorite places and hopefully one of yours!

Categories: Animals, Atlanta, Children, education, Environment, Local, nature, reptiles, science, wildlife | Tags: animals, atlanta, children, education, environment, mammals, nature, reptiles, science, wildlife | 3 Comments

Meet Owlbert!

We had the most exciting interview the other day! We met Owlbert the Great Horned Owl and his handler Debbie! We sat down to interview the two and learn Owlbert’s story!

Owlbert checking us out!

Us: It is so nice to meet you! Debbie can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you met Owlbert?

Debbie: I was a wildlife rehabilitator in Texas and rehabbed all kinds of animals. I am now a Master Falconer. I received a call that there was an owl who had been injured and lost his eye, so I decided to take him in.

Us: Owlbert, how were you injured?

Owlbert: I was hit by a car and a nice human found me and took me to a vet. My left eye and skull were hurt and they decided that they had to take my eye out.

Us: Wow! That sounds like it was very painful. How long did it take you to recover?

Owlbert: It took about 2 months for my head injury to heal and about another month for the swelling and pain to go away.

Us: Goodness! That was great of Debbie to take you in and help you get better. What’s it like here?

Owlbert: I live in a muse (a type of aviary) in the back yard. It has several places to perch for me and a nice box for me to go in during bad weather.

Us: That is great! You are large bird, how much do you weigh?

Owlbert: I weigh about 1500 grams or 3 lbs.

Us: Cool. What do eat?

Owlbert: I really like rats and I get a large one every day. Sometimes I get squirrels or mice too. In the wild, one of the Great Horned Owl’s favorite prey items is skunk!

Us: Whew! Skunks are stinky! Do you throw up owl pellets?

Owlbert: Oh yes, I cannot digest some of the bones and fur of the rats I eat, so every day I throw up a pellet of all those parts.

Us: Eeeew! What do you do now with Debbie?

Owlbert: Debbie and I go out to nature centers, schools and other places like Fernbank Museum of Natural History. Debbie tells people all about me and owls. Debbie does all the talking and I sit on my perch and look handsome!

Us: That is great that you act as ambassador for your wild cousins!

Owlbert: Oh yes! We like to tell people about how they can help Great Horned Owls and other animals in the wild!

Us: Neat! Can you give us some tips?

Owlbert: Sure! One great way is to make sure your own yard is great place for wildlife to live. You can plant trees or bushes that provide shelter or put up bird houses or bat boxes. Another great thing to do is to keep things like chemical and oil containers out of reach of all animals.

Us: Those tips are fabulous! We know that you live with Debbie, would you recommend that others take in wild animals as pets.

Owlbert: Oh no. Debbie is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and she is an expert at taking care of me. Here in Georgia is illegal to own native species without a having a special permit. Being in captivity can be very stressful for wild animals and wild animals can carry diseases that they can give to other animals or people.

Us: Wild animals need to live in their habitats. Do you know any ways to enjoy animals in their habitats?

Owlbert: Oh yes! Go to a park or your yard and listen for all the sounds that you hear from birds, insects and mammals. Count how many things live under a rock. Take pictures and make a photo album.

Us: Those are some excellent ideas! How do people contact Debbie if they would like for the two of you to visit?

Owlbert: That’s easy! You can contact us at Wild Things Environmental Education!

Debbie Tennyson 770-355-2292 or eaglesky1@gmail.com

Us: Thanks again for joining us today Owlbert and Debby! We had a blast getting to meet you! Be sure to check Owlbert out on his Facebook page too!

Owlbert’s Facebook Page!

Owlbert is celebrating his 2nd birthday soon! You can join him at birthday party too! Here’s the info:

Wild Bird Center of Buford
2725 Hamilton Mill Rd. suite 1400
Buford, GA. 30519
Saturday, May 3 from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 pm