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EXPLORE: WATER EMERGENCY CLOSES THE ZOO BROKEN WATERLINE MAY INCONVENIENCE ZOO VISITORS TWO CUTE HARBOR SEALS TWO CUTE! SPEND EARTH DAY WEEKEND AT THE ZOO FROGGIE, FROGGIE DAYS - APRIL 26-27 TORT AND THE ALDABRAS - COMING SOON! ZOO BEGINS SUMMER HOURS APRIL 1 SSSSSSUCH FUN PLANNED! UPDATE: BAGHDAD ZOO BIG BEAR'S BACK LEAP YEAR FUN AFRICAN ENTRANCE TO REOPEN THREE NEW ELEPHANTS ARRIVE AT THE ZOO! DEC. Z-MAIL LEFT BEHIND NEW ELEPHANT HARP SEAL DIES BEE 'N BEARS SNAKE WALK CUBS NAMED SIX RHINOS GET OUT'A LINE KIDZONE! ZOO CAMPS 2007 PRE-SCHOOL AMERICAN CHESTNUT LION CUBS WOLF AWARE NEWS ARCHIVE AN AVIARY GUIDE CAUTION! SAVE A SNOT-OTTER 4-STAR RANKING THANKS, FROM A FROG |
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Come Meet Murphy, the Zoo's Mammal Meterologist03/22/2005
Zoo
educators will be in the park to introduce visitors to Murphy, the
weather-predicting groundhog, and to talk about groundhog folklore and
the real skills some animals have to predict dangerous weather.
Murphy came to the zoo’s Schindler Wildlife Rehabilitation Center about three years ago after a motorist found him injured by the side of a highway. Those injuries, plus his fondness for humans, made it impossible to release Murphy back into the wild, according to Rehabilitation Center Supervisor Joan McMurray. Now Murphy is a center resident and a star educational animal. Shortly after his recovery, McMurray said her staff noticed that, often, when local forecasters predicted snow or sleet, Murphy would pad his nest box with extra leaves from his outdoor pen. When Murphy failed to gather in any more leaves, the weather failed to deliver any ice or snow. By the same token, the more leaves Murphy packed into his dean, the more inches of snow or ice pilled up outside. According to Mrs. McMurray, Murphy as has correctly predicted the last 11 snow or ice events at the zoo—more accurately than TV weather forecasters. Several stories done by area newspapers and TV stations have made Murphy a local celebrity. He even has his own page on the zoo’s Web site (www.nczoo.org) where his predications of pending precipitation are posted. Murphy also attends an annual Groundhog’s Day ceremony at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island--where is has a 100 percent accuracy rate in predicting how much longer winter will last. Zoo Society members are invited to come out and meet Murphy this weekend.     |
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