Oscar, Who's Not A Grouch Is Coming To Western North Carolina Nature Center Zoo and Aquarium Visitor News

Oscar, Who's Not A Grouch Is Coming To Western North Carolina Nature Center

By Sarah Odem

Ashville, NC - On Saturday, November 8th, the WNC Nature Center welcomes Oscar the Otter to join Olive in the Otter Enclosure at the Center, 75 Gashes Creek Road in East Asheville. The grand unveiling FOR EXISTING FRIENDS OF THE NATURE CENTER ONLY begins at 9 a.m. At 10 a.m., the general public will be welcomed. For admission prices and directions, please visit wildwnc.org.

Oscar was acquired from a wildlife facility in Minnesota. He was captive born and hand raised. He arrived here in August of 2008 and is now 6 months of age. Staff here at the Nature Center has worked with Oscar on a daily basis to get him used to his new home. He has passed his initial veterinary exams with flying colors and we hope that he will provide the needed companionship to our female otter, Olive. The last few weeks have seen us introducing him to Olive before the Center opens each morning.

The River Otter habitat is one of the Nature Center's most popular exhibits. Because otters remain playful even as adults, both young and old visitors delight in watching our otters as they swim, dive, and wrestle in their natural-looking enclosure. The Nature Center's otters are fed a mixture of fresh trout and a commercially prepared zoo diet for carnivores.

The River Otter is an aquatic member of a group of animals known as Mustelids. Other Western North Carolina mustelids are the skunk, weasel, and mink. Members of this family are characterized by the presence of strong-smelling anal glands which are used for communication between individuals and sometimes for defense. River Otters are long, muscular, and very streamlined animals, well adapted for their aquatic existence. The brown to brownish-gray fur is short and water repellent. The ears are small and lie flat against the side of the head. An otter's feet are strongly webbed and the tail is long and rudder-like. A clear, third eyelid, called a nictitating membrane, covers the otter's eyes when swimming underwater. This gives protection to the eye but allows the otter to see clearly. A typical adult otter weighs between 11 and 23 pounds and can measure 3 to 4 feet in length.

River Otters are very agile swimmers and are one of the few animals that seem to spend much of their time actually playing. Their long, supple bodies enable them to quickly twist, turn, roll, and dive as they seem to glide effortlessly through the water. River otters can be found in a variety of freshwater habitats including streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and marshes. They are most active at night. Otters feed on fish, snakes, turtles, frogs, crayfish and almost anything else they can catch. Otter dens are often dug into the bank of a stream or they may utilize an old beaver lodge, muskrat house, or even a hollow tree. They usually give birth to 2 to 4 young in early spring.

River Otters have declined in many areas where they were once common. Uncontrolled trapping, water pollution, and other forms of habitat destruction have contributed to this decline. In North Carolina, River Otters are still common in the eastern coastal plain, with much fewer found in the Piedmont region and almost none in the western mountains. A reintroduction project to restore River Otter populations in the mountains was recently begun by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Otters from eastern North Carolina were trapped and later released along major rivers including the Catawba and the French Broad. These new populations seem to be faring well and there is evidence that they have spread far from the original release sites. Another reintroduction project of River Otters has taken place in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Many of the streams and rivers in western North Carolina are actually much cleaner now than they were some decades ago, when the otter population first began declining here. If successful, reintroduction projects like these will hopefully restore a breeding nucleus of river otters that will eventually expand and reoccupy their former range.

How fitting that we welcome Oscar to the Nature Center at the same time that this region welcomes new wild otters in rivers throughout! Come by on November 8th to catch a glimpse of what you one day might see in the wild!

The Nature Center’s mission is to educate the public about the flora and fauna of Western North Carolina and foster an interest in the conservation of native plants and animals. The Nature Center serves 27 counties in western North Carolina and each year welcomes 100,000 visitors through its doors. It is operated by the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department of the City of Asheville. The Friends of the WNC Nature Center was incorporated in 1974 and has over 2200 members who support its activities on behalf of the Nature Center. For more information on the Friends, contact Sarah Oram, Director, at 298-5600 ext. 308.

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Irresponsible Board of Management

Maybe , just maybe The Toronto Zoo Board Is In The Middle Of A Financial Crisis And There Is No Place To Go But To City Council like a wayward son go to Mom and Dad for more money...

Although it was made clear by Shelley Carroll (the City's Budget Chief) that the Toronto Zoo has to behave more financially responsible, perhaps the problem is that there is no place else to go. The $250 Million fund-raising plans are a pipe dream (especially after firing the Zoo Foundation), it is not possible to raise admission prices any longer (or face a significant drop in attendance) and the "junkets" (especially to China for the Giant Pandas) by members of the Zoo Board can not be cut significantly for any reason. In other words, there is no place to go but City Council. What a crock! The Toronto Zoo Board needs a reality check, as it has become clear that they do not understand the problems they are facing. Perhaps the thousands of free Zoo passes given to Councillors on the Zoo Board could be cut to zero, perhaps the Zoo Foundation could be re-instated, and perhaps a citizen's advisory committee could be formed to provide much-needed guidance to the existing members of the Board.

This is Proof positive

that citizens should have more direct say in the budget process. Line item veto by a citizen's budget committee might get the desired cuts we must attain. The citizens of Toronto should stand with one voice that we just won't allow a property tax increase this year.

By Latinoboy in TORONTO

Ethyl Mercaptan

I would be quite interested in any reference you might have to the presence of ethyl mercaptan in carrion. Most literature indicates that dimethyl sulfide and methyl mercaptan are the sulfur containing entities involved. I had also thought that vultures, like many carrion eating and inhabiting species (flies, etc) were attracted to the rather bad smell of the nitrogenous materials (cadaverine, putresceine, etc) produced during decomposition.

Ant farms

Very nice ant exhibit! I wrote a small ant farm post with a reference to your article.

Train Business Directory Available for Visitors

A "Train Business Directory" shows over 850 locations near all of the Portland MAX light rail at PortlandLightRail.net.

Happy Birthday, Boomer!

You are a great ambassador for your cousins in the wild, Boomer!

Orangutans are critically endangered because of rapid deforestation and the expansion of palm oil plantations.

If nothing is done to protect orangutans, they could be extinct in just a few years!

Your fans can visit the Orangutan Outreach website to make a difference!

Orangutan Outreach
http://redapes.org
Reach out and save the orangutans!
Facebook Cause: http://causes.com/redapes

Venemous snakes?

What is it with people that want to exterminate venemous snakes? If they weren't an integral part of the food chain and ecosystem, they wouldn't be here! Evolution and natural selection has chosen them as survivors! The fact that they are "harmful" to humans is only a result of humans encroaching on their territories and habitats. Be mindful of your surroundings and situation and you can safely live with the so called "harmful" species that we share this planet with!

Local wildlife day

Good luck with the event. We have some fabulous wildlife in Devon that's really worth celebrating. We recently had a botanical survey of our small Devon nature reserve, which recorded more than 180 species in about 3.5 acres. And even more amazing was the depth of local knowledge the visiting naturalists had to share - on everything from obscure moths to lichens.

Local wildlife day

Sadly, a lack of common sense is the trend

What is sad to me is the lack of common sense regarding venomous snakes that seems to becoming more commonplace.

It has become trendy for government agencies to defend venomous snakes, saying they kill rodents, etc., but non-venomous snakes also kill rodents. I have not heard one logical argument as to what a venomous snake contributes to an ecosystem that a non-venomous snake doesn't.

Any non-biased biologist can affirm species extinction has always happened naturally. It's common sense to kill a venomous snake, rather than let it continue breeding and increase the potential for harm.

The unfortunate consequence of naturalists defending venomous snakes is they make them appear so necessary and harmless that both people and agencies--hospitals, for example--do not expect or prepare for snake encounters.

It's doubtful that many hospitals near the snakes stock the expensive antivenin. Governments should help fund snakebite treatment rather than fund snake protection.

Skype Usage

Very cool and novel way to use Skype. Glad to see that people are thinking outside the box with its collaborative application. If it's not too late, you may want to submit this to Skype as a good use of their software for the Skype in business contest they're running.

Shawn
OnState Communications

Word Oceans Day - June 8

And don't forget to "Wear Blue and Tell Two"

Another great way to celebrate World Oceans Day is to wear blue in honor of the ocean and tell people two things they likely don't know about the ocean and two ways they can take action. For more Information check out this website:

WorldOceansDay

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