Cam in the Classroom Mrs. Brown s Fourth Grade Class Churchville Elementary School Churchville Ave, Churchville, VA Monday, May 4, 2015 Good Morning Wildlife Center! Good morning Mrs. Brown's class! We are excited to have you here! We are excited to learn more about the Wildlife Center and Phebe! Yes! Mrs. Brown told me you had lots of questions about your adopted ambassador Phebe. Cam in the Classroom: Mrs. Brown s Fourth Grade Class Page 1
That's Phebe when she was little. So cute! Can you tell us what is in Phebe's habitat? Well Virginia Opossums like Phebe typically live in a forest habitat. They like lots of good trees to climb, bushes to hide, and lots of plants and animals to eat. They are omnivores which means they eat both plants and meat. Opossums are also nomadic, meaning they don't stay in any one place and will go from place to place to find food. So they can adapt to all sorts of habitats if they have the four major things to survive. Do you all know what those things are? We know they food, water, and shelter. and space. Great job class! Phebe would be proud! Since Phebe is not able to go back into the wild due to having just one eye, she lives in a special opossum enclosure. I have a video of Phebe in her enclosure getting breakfast if you would like to see! What does her enclosure at the center look like? Let me show you! Cam in the Classroom: Mrs. Brown s Fourth Grade Class Page 2
YES! Phebe's home! That's is a bigger picture of her home. Can you tell us what Phebe was having for breakfast? She had a mix of fruits, vegetables, wet dog or cat food, an egg, and a tasty mouse--her favorite! Her habitat looks awesome! We change it up every now and then to give her different things to climb and smell. Keeps her a happy, healthy opossum. Mice are her favorite foods? Cam in the Classroom: Mrs. Brown s Fourth Grade Class Page 3
Yes! Phebe will do just about anything for a mouse. Oh! Here is a picture of Phebe climbing on one of her logs in her enclosure. Does she get treats when she does school visits? I will sometimes give her a treat. She can be a messy eater and eating a mouse can be a bit gross, so sometimes give her a piece of banana instead. Does she share her enclosure with any other animals or does she have animal friends? Cam in the Classroom: Mrs. Brown s Fourth Grade Class Page 4
Nope! Phebe lives by herself, but she does have a next door neighbor named Pogo. He is also an opossum. Pogo the opossum Can you tell us more about the Wildlife Center? Sure! The Wildlife Center of Virginia is a hospital for native Virginia wildlife. Meaning wild animals that are from Virginia. So we don't take care of lions and tigers, but we take care of Black Bears! Cam in the Classroom: Mrs. Brown s Fourth Grade Class Page 5
Black Bear We have veterinarians that help sick, hurt, or orphaned wildlife get better and then we return them to the wild where they belong. We treat to release! How many animals have you treated this year? We've treated about 464 patients and that number is only going to go up! We are at the beginning of baby animal season! What should we do if we find a baby animal? Great question! Many times people find baby animals and think they are abandoned. Often times that's not the case. Cam in the Classroom: Mrs. Brown s Fourth Grade Class Page 6
The first thing you can do is call the Wildlife Center. We can walk you through what to do. But you should never feed an animal food or water. Many animals have sensitive tummies and human food can make them sick. If the animal does need help, place it in a box and keep it warm, dry, and in a place that is quiet. Can you tell us about the strangest case the wildlife center has had? Hmmm that's a tough one! We have had animals come in that you don't normally see in Virginia like this Purple Gallinule... Cam in the Classroom: Mrs. Brown s Fourth Grade Class Page 7
We've had animals that were stuck in weird places... Comment From Cathy in Poquoson Chimney owl? Yes! Briscoe the Great Horned Owl was trapped in a chimney for two weeks! Or a Bobcat kitten that was originally thought to be an abandoned house cat. Thank you for talking to us today. We look forward to our visit in June! Give Phebe an extra mouse for us! My pleasure! Phebe is looking forward to seeing everyone soon! Cam in the Classroom: Mrs. Brown s Fourth Grade Class Page 8