Native animals, closer than usual

Visiting the Western North Carolina Nature Center for the first time (encouraged by the seasonal butterfly house), we enjoyed an up-close view of some native mammals, reptiles, and amphibians that we normally don't see.

Bobcats, red wolves, gray wolves, gray fox, and coyotes were among them, but our favorites included a very lively male bear (he splashed and played in a large pool with a rope toy, climbed a tree, rolled a log, and clambered up a tree stump).










A river otter, waiting for dinner, posed on a rock.

And these turtles, in an attractive turtle pond, basked quite close on several logs, strategically placed. (I wish we had a small pond like this in the Children's Garden at the SC Botanical Garden!)

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Basking turtles

Another fun thing to observe in the Garden's pond are the turtles. (I have my own wildlife garden, but the botanical garden where I work is almost 300 acres, so it's a really big wildlife garden!)

We have several species of turtles that live in the pond, with one of the most common being pond sliders. I've counted up to twenty basking on the pine logs adjacent to the Duck Pond. They take advantage of sunny spots to warm up on cool days.

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