Daisy is 4 months old!

Daisy's appearance has changed a lot the past month. When porcupine babies are born, they are black. If you look at her photos you can see that is she is a blonde now. Daisy is a North Dakota porcupine whereas Lily is a Minnesota porcupine (see previous posts). Even though they are found not too far apart geographically, they have a difference in coat color. Since there are little trees and a lot of prairie grasses in North Dakota, porcupines from this area are blonde to help blend in. With all the trees in Minnesota, porcupines there are much darker which makes it hard for them to be seen at the tops of trees.



For our "Creature Creations" event Daisy got to paint! Here is a picture of her while she is painting and a picture of the final piece!

8 weeks old!

Daisy is 8 weeks old today! Currently she weighs 4 lbs 5 oz. She has also upgraded to a new, larger, enclosure. It gives her a lot more room to spin and climb! She is still going to a lot of birthday parties at the zoo and she helps me out with keeper talks every Sunday at 3:30. Daisy has such a wonderful personality which puts a smile on my face every time I'm with her. Just as a reminder, the zoo is now open for the summer season. We are open every day from 10am-8pm. We do a wolf feeding every Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 and Wednesdays at 5:30 (check out their blog on the zoos website!). Plus, meet Daisy every Sunday at 3:30 in front of the porcupine exhibit where you can see her mom "Olivia" as well!







Enjoying a beautiful day and eating grass



Just woke up from a nap! She's a little sleepy!

Hanging out in her new enclosure!

Crazy Daisy!

Daisy is no longer a baby, she is done with formula! She loves her rodent chow and enjoys eating her apples! She is the fourth porcupine I have hand raised, and she is by far the most curious, playful, and crazy little thing! She loves to show off her quills by spinning in circles then running over to people to be picked up and pet. She has been doing a great job meeting visitors at the zoo, too. We are outside of the porcupine exhibit every Sunday at 3:30. She weighs over 3 lbs now! Here are a couple pictures of her and a video of her playing in her pen.

She keeps growing and growing...

At birth Daisy weighed 550 grams... now she is over 900 grams! Thats almost 2 lbs!! Hopefully many of you were able to come out to the zoo for our "Party for the Planet" event last Saturday. Daisy made her debut to the public that day. We had over 1600 visitors and she introduced herself to many. She has started showing quite the personality, too! She is starting to follow me around with a lot of enthusiasm and loves to chase after my cats at home. She doesn't seem to fear anything! Here are some pics of how she has grown this past week and video of her on the move.

Spring is in the air... along with a new baby!

Move over Lily there's a new baby in town!

I would like to introduce you all to the newest addition to the Red River Zoo... DAISY!

Daisy was born Thursday, April 16th sometime before 10:30am. She was born to mom "Olivia" who is two years old, and dad "Mendy" who is three years old. She was 550 grams at birth.

I brought her home Saturday evening to begin the hand raising process. We hand raise our porcupines to get them comfortable around people for use in education programs at the zoo. It makes educating a lot easier if the porcupines aren't tail flicking at the slightest movement!

She will eat between 10-15mL of formula every two hours during the first week. I will weigh her daily and try to handle her as much as possible.

Here are some more pictures...

Size comparison to a deck of cards

Lily on exhibit

Lily is now 10 months old! Due to the amount of snow we have received this winter and the small size of Lily, she has been chosen to be our exhibit porcupine. She is now 8 pounds and is excited that the weather is getting warmer. She loves to play and still loves to cuddle and get pet. Here are some pictures of her enjoying the yummy taste of an evergreen branch. The zoo is open during the winter. Come on out Saturdays or Sundays from 12-4 and see what Lily is up to!

Lily's been busy!!

Lily has had a busy summer! Not only has she been busy with birthday parties at the zoo, but she has been busy growing!! She is around 6 pounds already!! She is the sweetest porcupine that I have seen at the Red River Zoo. She had outgrown the pens we had her in, so it was time to put her in a large holding area where the other porcupines were. Although she was in her own pen, she was still very close to the other porcupines. Being around people her whole life, I think she forgot what kind of animal she was. When I put her in her new pen, she didn't know what to think of her new neighbors. She climbed to the top of the pen and started screaming when her neighbor "Victor" came over to introduce himself. I took her down and held her telling her it would be OK. She soon calmed down. Now she has a roommate. "Olivia," the baby from last year, is staying with "Lily." They seem to be getting along very well. Here are some updated pictures of "Lily." She's not a baby anymore!!

"Lily" and her new roommate "Olivia"