Varied Beasts

More panels inside the exhibit explore various themes, such as the assets a slow moving sloth has in survival.

Slow movers can go a long time without eating. This panel gives examples of how long a species might last without a meal.

Here we have more looks at those fruit bats. I'll have other looks at them tomorrow.

From slow movers who conserve energy to fast ones that burn energy. These are Gouldian finches, residents of northern Australia that feed on seeds and have a metabolism that requires them to eat up to 30% of their body weight each day. That's how much they burn off flying.

This is a fox snake. A resident of the mid-western United States, this preys on small rodents, frogs, or birds, and when frightened emits a musky odour that makes a predator think twice.

These two are in fact sculptures that one could pose by. I watched kids posing with both, and refrained from taking pics, as I try to avoid doing so when possible. 

Two different critters, both vegetarians, occupy this space. Both occupy some of the same range in the wild- parts of central and South America. The green iguana and the red footed tortoise are both slow most of the time- the iguana relies on its colours for camouflage from predators, and the tortoise is protected by its shell as it moves slowly around eating low energy food.