Posts Tagged ‘Houston’

Sep
09

Meet Our Animals-Kenyan Sand Boa

Posted by in Animal Fun Facts,Animal Information

You may start to think after reading this blog and the previous blog that all we have in our education building is creepy crawlies. Well, you’re sort of on the right track. Our next animal is more of a slithery one and her name is appropriately-Sandi.

Our Kenyan Sand Boa, Sandi, about to dig herself underneath the sand

Sandi is our Kenyan Sand Boa that just moved to our building a couple weeks ago. As you may guess, her species is found in East Africa in desert regions and scrub savannas.

Sandi is well adapted for living in these habitats. Her shovel-like nose helps her dig her entire body under the sand so she is barely visible. Watching her as she burrows underneath the sand is quite the show! She uses the tip of her nose to push the sand away and make room for her body to go under the sand.

Check out her shovel-like nose!

Along with her helpful nose, her brown and orange coloration helps her camouflage and sneak up on prey. As is the case with most snakes, Sandi loves to eat rodents. Her main diet in the wild is small rodents and small lizards but at the Zoo she is mainly fed mice.

Don’t be fooled by her ‘boa’ name though…she is much smaller than most boa constrictors. Female sand boas can reach lengths of up to 24 inches, while males can only reach about 15 inches in length. Their small size helps them hide underneath sand and rocky areas.

Sandi-excited to be out of her home and visiting with staff!

Their size also makes them easy to handle and present to the public. Here at the Zoo Sandi is getting accustomed to being held by lots of staff members! She is very calm and loves the attention she gets when she’s taken out. If you happen to join us in the Brown Education Center for a program you might get to meet her too!

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Sep
01

Meet our Animals-Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches

Posted by in Animal Fun Facts,Animal Information

It’s that time again! What time you may ask? It’s time for a new series on our Education Blog! This series will focus on the animals that we house here in our education building.  Most of the animals we use for our educational programming reside in the Children’s Zoo and are taken care of by their very knowledgeable staff. However, here in the Brown Education Center we do house a few select fish, invertebrates and reptiles.

So why not jump in head first? Let’s meet our plethora of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa). This species of invertebrate hails from the island of Madagascar, off the coast of east Africa. They usually feed on fruit and plant material which they find on the forest floor.

Our Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches chowing down on some lettuce

 

Here at the Houston Zoo we have so many that we can’t even name them all! We have every size…from “Teeny tiny are you a piece of shrunken carrot?” to “My oh my you could be the national bird of Madagascar!”

These cockroaches may range in size from itty bitty to a small bird, however they cannot fly like other species of cockroaches. Their main way to ward off predators is to hiss! They make this noise by exhaling air through several breathing holes. Although both males and females can hiss, only males display unique horns on the tops of their heads which make them look more impressive to other males.

A male cockroach enjoying a fruit snack

These cockroaches can also use their hissing noise to attract mates.  Can anyone say triple threat?

Here in the Education Department we love to use these inverts to bring to Adventure Classes, Critter Encounters, or on ZooMobiles. There’s nothing like engaging a group of students while simultaneously scaring the heebee jeebies out of teachers and parents!

Don't be scared, put your hand in there!

What do you think…would you touch our cockroaches?

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Aug
21

Life after Camp Zoofari

Posted by in Camp,Classes/Programs,Education Office

Organization at its best!

Who says spring cleaning is just for the spring time? Over the past week the Education Department has been in a frenzy of “spring” cleaning. It has been about a week since our Summer Camp Zoofari program ended, and that means there is a massive cleanup occurring in the Brown Education Center!

In order to get ready for a fall full of programming we’ve taken on some big projects-painting, organizing, cleaning, redecorating, hauling…you name it, we’re probably in the process of doing it!

There’s no better way to prepare yourself for something new than by cleaning out the old…and the Education Department is taking that literally. We’ve taken down our temporary classrooms, reopened the exhibit hall, taken everything off of our walls in order to paint, spackled the walls, organized and put away all camp materials, cleaned our classrooms and reorganized our biofact rooms…phew! Who knew you could do all of that in just one week?

Bare walls ready for a makeover!

This process is very important, but we’re also in the midst of another important task post-camp…planning! We’ve been planning our fall programs all summer but it’s time now to start implementing those programs, writing curriculum and gathering supplies. The work sounds never-ending, doesn’t it? Well, we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t love it, and we certainly think it is a very important (and fun!) job to do.

 *Post makeover pictures to come in a later blog!

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