Bulletin From the Barn: May 27, 2009
Baby Anteater Update From Keeper Marie Magnuson
Well, we needn’t have worried about Cyrano having an opportunity to get down and do a little exploring! Our anteater pup has been spending plenty of time on the ground these days, and I don’t think that the time of day we put him and his mother outside had anything to do with it.
What really helped was the great weather that we had this past week. Last Wednesday, Dante (Cyrano's dad) had been outside in the morning. At about 1 p.m. I brought him inside and put Cyrano and his mom, Maripi, out. There was still a little cleaning to be done so they had been out about 20 minutes when I left the barn.
Much to my surprise, there was Maripi right at the front of the exhibit, on her back with her arms outstretched, soaking up the sun's warmth. On the ground next to her was her son, and he was having a blast. Cyrano was digging in the ground and ripping apart rotten logs just a like an anteater should. I called the other keepers and our curator, who put out the word to the rest of the Zoo that Cyrano was having a big day. Quite a few of the keepers from around the Zoo came, as did one of the Zoo's photographers. (
See more photos.) Cyrano had drawn quite a crowd of visitors all by himself, and everyone enjoyed the show that he and his mother put on.
Play Time!
After ten or 15 minutes of sunbathing, Maripi reached over and pulled her son to her and started wrestling with him. They rolled around and Cyrano would pretend to charge at his mother. They would wrestle for a while, then Cyrano would go and dig in the ground, then they would play together some more, then he would claw at a log. When Cyrano got tired he would climb on his mother’s back for a rest. When he had his breath back, he would play on the ground some more. When it was time for them to come back inside, he was exhausted!
We will still vary when they go outside, but with the warmer weather we will probably put Maripi and Cyrano out in the morning so we can fill the pool with water for Dante. Cyrano is quite agile on the ground but we will wait until he is bigger to see if he is a good swimmer.
