SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Xiao Liwu - Exam 14

Xiao Liwu had his weekly exam Tuesday morning and his final vaccination. The cub weighed 10.8 pounds (4.9 kilograms) and measured 25.5 inches (65 centimeters) long.

During the exam, a Zoo veterinarian was able to see and feel several teeth in the baby bear’s mouth. The Panda Team set out a ball, a chew toy, and some bamboo on the exam floor so the cub would have different items to explore.

Veterinarian Matt Kinney noted that while Xiao Liwu is crawling better than he has done in previous weeks, they don’t feel he is able to navigate the uneven terrain of the Zoo’s panda exhibits yet. The cub will continue to practice his crawling and walking skills in an off-exhibit suite of rooms before he and his mother, Bai Yun, are given access to a public exhibit.