Care for Wildlife at the Virginia Living Museum

The quarter-million guests who visited the Virginia Living Museum this past year sensed the excitement in the air, with many changes in the works! New exhibits, new events and programs, and a brand new building, the Wild Care Center, drew visitors’ attention and engaged them with the natural world at their doorstep.

Families made memories together while learning about Virginia’s ecosystems and native flora and fauna. Hands-on environmental education programs brought science to life for more than 32,000 Virginia students from kindergarten through high school. Young people gained experience and discovered career pathways in the STEM fields through meaningful volunteerism. The community gathered to take conservation action to clean up their local environment and monitor biodiversity. More than 1,000 animals representing 200+ species called the Museum home, serving as educational ambassadors for guests and school children.

The Virginia Living Museum is truly a place where young people get inspired by the beauty and diversity of the natural world. Twelve-year-old Eli has been able to pursue his passion for turtles as a youth volunteer. With an impressive knowledge and expertise about turtle species, he recently wrote and published a children's book. His story made it on the local news in August 2024. Every day, children like Eli discover nature's wonders at the Virginia Living Museum.

Thanks to you, our loyal donors, the Museum continues to serve as a beloved resource for families and students in Hampton Roads and beyond — welcoming people of all ages to explore natural and physical science, and inspiring the next generation of scientists and conservationists. Your generosity sustains us, strengthens us, and advances our mission into the future. Thank you!

Links:

• Hampton 12-year-old loves turtles so much he wrote a book about
• Virginia Living Museum
• Virginia Living Museum Facebook

Summer is a busy time at the Virginia Living Museum! Children with their families stroll the outdoor boardwalk, aviary, and dynamic indoor living exhibits. Volunteers join staff to clean up the Museum's forested and wetland grounds and monitor wildlife. Community members of all ages enjoy planetarium shows and evening star gazing. Students in summer enrichment camps enjoy nature discovery, learning about the many species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, fish, and plants native to Virginia. The Museum's animal care staff works hard to ensure the needs of all creatures big and small are met, and that they receive physical and cognitive stimulation and enrichment to lead their healthiest lives.

Birds:

Resident American Kestrel, Sugar, participated in her favorite type of enrichment – exploration with bubbles!. Her favorite part is watching the bubbles fall. The American kestrel is North America’s smallest raptor. Fun fact: Kestrels can be seen “kiting” or hovering in the air over potential prey.

Reptiles:

Puzzle bowls aren't only for dogs! The lizards on exhibit at the Museum use puzzle bowls for foraging behaviors. Foraging behavior includes all the methods by which a living creature obtains and uses sources of energy and nutrients. This includes the location and consumption of resources, as well as their retrieval and storage, within their habitat.

The Museum's resident Yellow Bellied Sliders, Daffodil & Buttercup, have been working with their keepers on basket feed training. Teaching them to enter a basket during feeding time allows the turtles to eat without the harassment of their fellow habitat neighbors (the hungry fish). Yellow Bellied Sliders are a large freshwater turtle reaching a maximum carapace length of 11.4 inches in the U.S. The carapace (upper shell) is oval, weakly keeled, and olive to brown with yellow markings. Old individuals may be completely black.

Mammals:

The Museum's spirited flying squirrels enjoy enrichment items like pine cones and cardboard boxes. The flying squirrel is one of four different types of squirrels found in Virginia. Squirrels are members of the rodent family, which includes beavers, chipmunks, mice and rats. Flying squirrels have a velvety coat of grayish-brown fur, big brown eyes and a pearly-white belly. When they are born they are hairless, blind and completely dependent on their mothers for care.

The flying squirrel is found throughout most of the United States. Unlike the other types of squirrels, the flying squirrel is nocturnal, meaning it is mostly active during the night. Its keen eyesight, hearing, smell and agility allow it to act quickly and stealthily in the dark. It gets its name from its ability to soar through the air. A loose flap of skin on either side of its body connects from its fore leg to its hind leg. This feature allows the squirrel to create an airfoil and travel faster without ever touching the ground. When moving from one tree to the next the flying squirrel jumps off of a branch, stretches out its legs, and glides towards its destination. The squirrel steers by using its tail as a rudder. Flying squirrels can sail up to 40 yards in a downward direction!

Your generous donation supports animal welfare, healthy diets, habitat, veterinary care, and individualized enrichment for hundreds of animals on exhibit. On behalf of all of us at the Virginia Living Museum -- thank you!

Links:

• Virginia Living Museum website