North American Zoo Mammals

Niabi Zoo has some wonderful exotic animals, but this post is about some their North American mammals.  They have bobcats, wolves, porcupines, and elk.  The wolves did not come out to play, but I got photos of the others, through their enclosures.

Lynx rufus

Note the tufted ears

A bobcat is smaller than a lynx, but bigger than a domestic cat.  It has tufts of hair on its ears, and a short tail, from whence comes its name.  Direct interactions between bobcats and humans is rare, but they will stalk and attack pets.  I've never seen one in the wild.  Have any of you readers?  If so, tell us the story!

This porcupine is sitting up in a tree, in his enclosure.

Note the toes of the porcupine, on the lower left.

Next up we have the porcupine.  They are smaller than beavers, but may look bigger due to their many quills. Contrary to popular belief, porcupines do not throw their quills.  The quills are barbed however, and predators, or even curious domestic dogs, may end up with a face full of them.  This is very painful, and sometimes leads to infection.  I would love see a porcupine in the wild - from a distance, of course!

An elk, also known as a wapiti, meaning "white rump".

"You wanna piece of me?!!!"

Last of all, we have the elk.  This elk was very interested in me, and came close - as if to check out what I was doing.  In fact, her posture and behavior seemed kind of challenging.  Thank goodness there was a fence between us!  You would never want to approach one so closely in the wild.  They have been known to charge humans and vehicles.

Their historic range included Iowa and Illinois, but now they are mainly found in the west.  They are hunted for food.  The Boone & Crockett record book lists the world's record elk as having an antler spread of 47 4/8 inches.  That is almost four feet across, with the height of the antlers being over 4 1/2 feet long.  Yowza!