ZooMontana Written Tour

• The “tour” is separated into the main areas of the zoo. We know there is a lot to read!!! Why not assign small groups to be in charge of different areas of the tour. Spend time prior to your visit researching the animals your students will see and allow them to present their information at the zoo.
• Depending on the age group or interest of your group you may want to condense some of the information.
• Pick a centralized theme to talk about at each exhibit:
  • Predator/Prey
  • Animal Coverings
  • Habitat
  • Animal type (mammal, bird, reptile, etc)
  • Adaptations
• Compare/ contrast with things you’ve already seen:
  • Does this animal have a longer or shorter lifespan than the one we just saw?
  • Is this animal bigger or smaller?
  • How is this animal’s habitat different?
• Take time to observe. Many of the animals at the zoo will stop what they are doing when your group approaches. Take a few minutes to quietly observe the animals as they return to their normal activities.
• If someone in your group stumps you with a question please don’t hesitate to ask the answer to one of our informed staff members or volunteers.

Our zoo is situated on approximately 72 acres with Canyon Creek meandering through the center of it. We have a lovely riparian setting to work with! The zoo layout takes our visitors from North America to Eurasia through high plains, woodland and mountain ecosystems. With the exception of some of our older education animals, the zoo will feature only northern latitude Temperate Zone species…animals that would find our hot summers and cold winters to their liking. The zoo receives no state or federal money. We run on a very tight budget with most of our operating costs coming from fundraising, donations and grants. Many of our future habitats have been designed and construction costs have been figured in. We do not begin to build any of our habitats until enough money has come in to complete the project. We have a small staff supplemented by a LARGE volunteer association. Many of the people you will see working at the zoo are volunteers.

Many of the animals you will see at ZooMontana are rare, threatened or endangered mostly due to habitat loss, or other human interference. What makes up a habitat, you ask? Habitats must provide food, water, shelter and space. Every species of plant and animal requires a specific amount of all these things and when one or more of these needs is not met, living organisms cannot survive. Inside the main building a large percentage of Montana’s native reptiles and amphibians are housed as well as various other animals. 

The Living Wall houses a variety of animals (we’ve featured a few here):

The Great Plains toad is found in dry grasslands and spends a great deal of its time sleeping underground. When it does wake up, it can travel great distances to find temporary breeding ponds and to search for tasty bugs to eat. Only the male toad “sings”. The skin on amphibians is permeable; it allows the animal to breath and drink through their skin! Because of this special skin, any chemicals in the air, water or soil can be directly absorbed into the animal, making them sick and/or killing them. Toads protect themselves with poison. Toxins are secreted from large glands (the “warts”) on the toad’s skin, their only defense against hungry predators. Picking up toads is harmful to the toad, any natural oils, lotion, bug spray, sunscreen or perfumes on your hands is absorbed into the animal. Toads won’t give you warts but you will have to wash your hands thoroughly to remove the toxins from your skin.

The Wyoming Toads were once thought to be extinct. They were rediscovered and are only known to exist around Mortenson Lake near Laramie, WY. How many of these toads can you spot in their exhibit? They are a wonderful example of camouflage.

Snakes, Snakes and more Snakes! The western wall in the living wall area is home to several Montana snakes, the Western Hog Nose, the beautifully colored Pale Milk Snake, Garter Snakes and Bullsnake. Note the variety of size, shape and color in these native snakes. The hognose is a mildly venomous snake that feeds almost exclusively on toads; in fact, sometimes ZooMontana keepers have to rub its food on the Woodhouse’s toad to get it to eat. Bullsnakes are often mistaken for rattlesnakes, but these snakes are non venomous, and are very important for rodent control. The bullsnake is Montana’s largest snake whose length can exceed 7 feet!

Montana’s only boa species, the Rubber Boa, is native to the western part of the state. Secretive and docile this is a hard snake to find. They’re handy to have around though as they prey mostly on very young mice.

Wow! That’s a big insect! Check out our Madagascar “Hissing” cockroaches! There are several thousand species of cockroaches known throughout the world, but you won’t find these living in your kitchen. They are native to the island of Madagascar off the coast of Africa. They live outside on the forest floor and eat all the debris that falls to the ground, like leaves, fruit and nuts. They don’t have wings to escape hungry predators instead they puff themselves up to look bigger, hang on real tight with their little clawed feet and hiss real loud. It’s hard to sneak up on a cockroach; they can feel you, hear you and see you. Cockroaches are living fossils; they have been around since before the dinosaurs. They will probably still be here after we are long gone.

Do you find eight legs four too many? The Peruvian pinktoe tarantula is a large, hairy tree-dwelling spider found in the rainforests of the northwest Amazon region. This species is from northeastern Peru. It builds a silken tube-web, which it lives in when it isn’t out hunting for food. When it catches its prey, insects and other small animals, it injects its victim with poison from two fangs. The poison starts digesting the animal and the spider feeds by sucking the out liquid. Spiders of all kinds are generally feared by many and often killed when seen. Collection of these large spiders from the wild for the exotic pet trade has become a big market. Spiders, however, are not “pets” and don’t need or appreciate companionship or being handled. It takes years for these tarantulas to mature and reproduce and many young ones fall prey to larger predators. Removing them from the wild may have already impacted the species.

Meet our three-toed box turtles! There are different subspecies of box turtles found throughout the United States and all prefer environments that can be characterized as “moist” or “humid”, such as woodlands, coastal flood plains, pastures and wet meadows. Box turtles have a high domed shell (carapace). The hard plate underneath (plastron) is hinged at the front and the back. This enables the turtle to enclose itself completely with its shell when it feels threatened, hence the name “box”. Box turtles eat a variety of invertebrates, fruit, mushrooms and leafy greens. For many years now these gentle reptiles have been collected from the wild to sell in the pet trade. These animals, which can live 40 to 100 years in the wild, rarely survive their first year in captivity. Currently, all North American box turtles are listed on CITES as endangered animals. Any turtle sold in a pet shop without specific documentation to the contrary, have been caught in the wild and therefore illegal to sell or own. 

Our Discovery Center houses minor exhibits and displays.

The green iguana is one of the most common exotic “pets” found in this country. Most people buy them when they are tiny and bright green. Green iguanas can grow up to be over 6 feet long! They are natives to the tropical jungles of South America. They have very sharp claws for climbing up trees. They can also swim. Young iguanas eat a lot of bugs but become vegetarians when they are adults. They also become more aggressive as they mature. The zoo gets many phone calls every week from people who no longer want their adult iguanas. Unfortunately, these unwanted, extremely large, reptiles are difficult to adopt out and many probably end up being destroyed. Housed with the green iguana are three Cane Toads. The cane toad is the largest true toad in the world and can weigh up to 2 pounds. The toads secrete a deadly toxin when threatened. They are veracious predators and can take over a non-native habitat preying upon resident reptiles, amphibians and even small mammals.

The southern flying squirrel is a small, nocturnal tree dwelling rodent found throughout the eastern portion of the United States. Their body and tail is flattened and they have a furred membrane (patagium) that connects the front feet to the back feet, which they use as a sail to glide from one tree to another…hence the name “flying” squirrel. Their eyes are very large to help them see in the dark. They are dependent upon intact deciduous forests that include nut-bearing trees. They are solitary during the summer, except for when the female is raising her young, but they will collect into groups of up to 24 in the winter. Like all tree squirrels, they do not hibernate in the winter so they must store food for the winter months. In Montana we have the northern flying squirrel; it is dependent upon intact pine forests for survival.

The antics of the American Mink can be very entertaining (if you can catch her in action). Found throughout North America, this semi aquatic member of the weasel family is never far from water. 

Gardens

The Montana plant garden is a work in progress. In this garden you can see a collection of native plants that have been used for thousands of years by the native peoples of the area. When Lewis and Clark traveled west on their epic journey of discovery, they learned how to use some of these plants from the tribes they met along the way.

“Dottie’s Garden” is the name we gave our water-wise garden. Dottie loved flowers and her family wanted her to be remembered in a special way. All the plants in this garden are plants adapted to living in dry climates. You will find succulents (like the cacti), small leaved plants, waxy plants, fuzzy plants and spiky plants. Many developed ways to prevent water loss and to hang on to as much moisture as possible. They also grow in ways that allows them to shade themselves. This pretty little garden is visited by hummingbirds and butterflies all summer long. 

North American Loop

The N. American river otter habitat contains a male and a female otter. They belong to the same large family as the black-footed ferrets. The weasel family includes ferrets, otters, skunks, badgers, wolverines, mink, fisher, pine marten and ermine. Just like the skunk, the entire group can get real stinky when they get angry. The river otter is found from Canada into Mexico. The European river otter is similar in size and appearance to our species. The river otters in Asia are somewhat larger. The S. American river otter is the largest of all, reaching 6 feet in length…and everyone has heard of the sea otters! These are all predators and even though they look “cute”, you wouldn’t want to try and touch them. When you watch these otters swim you can see how their long, flattened shape and webbed feet really help them move through the water. N. American river otters were once found across the country in almost every river and stream. They were hunted extensively for their fur and then pollution levels in our country’s waterways became so bad that we nearly wiped them out. Now they are recolonizing historic waterways. Lifespan in captivity is 19 years, less in the wild.

At the waterfowl ponds we have Canada geese (two subspecies), emperor geese, whitefront geese, snow geese, blue geese, barredheaded geese, Chinese Geese (the plump noisy ones) wood ducks (ours and wild ones), mallards (wild), blue winged teals, green winged teals, tree ducks, redheaded ducks, pintail ducks and western painted turtles (wild). Waterfowl were also impacted by DDT and by the ingestion of spent lead shot that they scooped up with the gravel they ate.

The great horned owl is one of our retired education animals. She was raised by people and developed rickets as a “youngster” due to an inadequate diet. By the time her care was taken over by a veterinarian she had 18 broken bones. She is able to fly but never did learn to hunt and was considered non-releasable. She is a prime example of “If you care for wild animals, leave them in the wild!” Most owls are nocturnal animals and the great horned owl is well camouflaged so she can sleep unmolested during the day. Owls have excellent eyesight; their eyes are so large in their little skulls that they have no room for extra muscles to move the eyes around like we do. Their eyes are fixed in their sockets. Owls have excellent hearing and nearly soundless flight. All these are adaptations for hunting little, quiet rodents in the dark. Owls can’t turn their heads around in a complete circle, but they can turn it 3/4 of a way around which is still very amazing! The oldest know great horned owl lived to be 29 years old in captivity. In the summer months you might see a turkey vulture sharing the habitat with the owl. Our vulture was born in the summer of 1997, again raised by, and imprinted on, people. Vultures are seasonal visitors to our state. They migrate south to escape our cold winters. As you can see, his little bald head and naked legs are not made to survive our winters. Vultures scavenge on the rotting remains of dead animals. Their featherless head and legs are easier for them to keep clean. As nature’s garbage men, they serve an important purpose in the wild. Vultures are able to eat very bad and diseased meat without any ill effects to themselves and their digestive tract is able to destroy harmful bacteria and germs. They literally prevent the spread of diseases. Vultures have very good eyesight and they also have an excellent sense of smell, an unusual trait in birds.

The eastern gray wolves were born in 1997. We have a male and a female. Most people feel our wolves look smaller than a wolf should be but these wolves are about average in size. Wolves are very social animals and communicate among themselves using vocalization, facial expressions and body language. All domestic dogs are descendants of wolf ancestors. Wolves are predators. They work together to catch their food and because they cooperate, are able to bring down animals larger than themselves. Like all predators, they don’t catch an animal every day. Predators are made to gorge on food (when they have it) and to fast (do without) for several days. Zoos learned over the years that when large predators are fed regular diets every day, the animals became overweight and developed diseases they normally would not have developed in the wild. Zoos now replicate what would happen in the wild. We vary the amount of food our large predators get and that includes a day or two of fasting. This keeps our animals healthier. Wolves are very adaptable animals and were once found all over North America. They are endangered in this country only because they were once systematically hunted to near extinction. Average lifespan is 8-13 years.

Two of our newest exhibits at ZooMontana are on our North American “loop”: the Bighorn Sheep and Wolverine. Bighorn sheep are agile climbers. They conduct a vertical migration every year, spending their summers high in the mountains and their winters down at lower elevations in sheltered areas. The males spend most of the year in bachelor herds and the females with their young make up the nursery herds. Bighorn sheep are noted for their head-butting duels every fall. You can count the dark rings on their horns to get an idea of their age! The older sheep teach the younger sheep where the winter and summer pastures are, where the escape routes are, and where the watering holes are. Their numbers in the wild are declining due mainly to diseases they contract from domestic sheep. Trophy hunting also causes problems as it takes the oldest, most knowledgeable members of the herd. Average Bighorn Sheep lifespan is 9 years but some have lived to 24 years. Lifespan for females is shortened by frequent breeding and for males by trophy hunting.

Our Wolverine habitat was completed in 2002. Our wolverine (female) arrived from the Minnesota Zoo. She looks like a small bear with dark brown (chocolate-colored) fur with whitish stripes along her back and across her chest. She has long, strong claws for digging and climbing, strong jaws and sharp teeth for tearing meat. Wolverines are the largest land-dwelling member of the weasel family. Wolverines are not well understood and many myths have evolved over the years about them. Wolverines once covered most of northern North America down the western mountains into California, Arizona and New Mexico but now are only found in a few isolated mountain ranges. They are also found in northern Europe and northern Asia. Average wolverine lifespan is about 13 years in the wild and up to 18 years in captivity.

The North American Porcupine does not shoot its quills as myths indicate. Instead, this rather docile rodent swats a threat with its tail. The quills have small back slanting barbs that make their removal very painful. The porcupine is a herbivore. Their diet consists of forest vegetation and tree bark. The porcupine has few predators, though fishers actually seek them out. Average porcupine lifespan is 17 years. 

Eurasia

The Northern Mainland sika deer are, historically, the Amur tiger’s main prey. These deer had been renamed after DNA testing concluded that they are actually natural hybrids of the two largest sika subspecies once found in China. Unfortunately, these species of sika deer have not been seen in the wild since 1912 and the only herds known in existence are at the San Diego Zoo, ZooMontana and now the Boise Zoo. These deer are actually Asian elk and bugle during rut. They do not lose their spots as they mature. This dappled effect gives them excellent camouflage in their native forested habitat. Their coats become very thick and dark gray during the winter and their spots all but disappear. Northern Mainland Sika lifespan is about We currently have one male.

Our two red pandas are brothers and came to us from the Eerie Zoo. Red pandas are related to the better-known giant pandas (black and white) and are just as rare and endangered. Both types of panda are found in similar areas of Asia, mountainous bamboo forests, and both rely heavily on bamboo (99% of their diet is bamboo!) Pandas are quite unique and scientists still debate whether they should be part of the bear family or the raccoon family or maybe they should be in a family all their own. Pandas are carnivores that are almost completely vegetarian. Their gut is not really designed to eat plant matter and they have to eat A LOT of bamboo (which isn’t very nutritious) just to meet their basic energy needs. Pandas try to conserve their energy and spend a lot of time resting or moving slowly. Red Panda average lifespan is about 10 years. Red pandas spend a lot of time up in the trees, their claws are slightly retractable (like a cat’s) and this enables them to climb easily. When they come down a tree they do it head first! Habitat loss is the panda’s greatest threat. We participate in the red panda SSP. 

Other Interesting Stuff

ZooMontana is situated in a Riparian Zone. The habitat surrounding flowing water is called riparian. This type of habitat follows the course of the waterway and includes the floodplain and drier upper areas on either side of the floodplain. Riparian habitats are crucial to the western United States. They provide safe corridors across an otherwise arid landscape where few animals would normally be able to exist. 

Homestead Barn

The barn area is an area of constant change with animals coming and going with the seasons. This area is designed for children to interact with and even touch some of the animals. Do not enter corrals or hang children over fences, instead encourage them to patiently wait for the animals to approach them for petting. There are 2 quarter operated feeding stations at the barn, one for the chickens and one for the goats.

Our “Motley Crew” chickens represent several different varieties. All chickens are thought to descend from the wild Asian junglefowl. Over the centuries these birds were selectively bred to bring out certain characteristics. The cochins are the little puffballs of different colors with feathered legs and feet. The barred black and white chickens are Dominiques, America’s first chicken. They arrived with the pilgrims and spread westward with the pioneers. This variety is still in danger of disappearing. The Polish chickens are the ones with the “bad hair day-look”.

The Shetland sheep originally come from the Shetland Islands of Great Britain. They are thought to be descendants of little sheep brought to the islands by Viking settlers. They are hardy animals and their wool once came in many shades, but people stopped breeding them in the early 1900’s because large sheep with white wool were wanted. Only a few people kept the Shetlands alive but, unfortunately, some color variations are now lost to us.