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"

Got milk? Not Lily!!

Lily had her first bite of solid food last week. After that she said "no more milk for me!" She eats about 60 grams of food twice a day. Her favorite food is apples. Since she is eating big girl food, she now stays in a big girl enclosure. She upgraded from a cat carrier to a small dog kennel. She loves to climb around and spin in circles to show off. She is also quite the little partier! She has attended about 5 birthday parties and has many more planned at the zoo. She loves people and loves to have kids pet her! We couldn't have asked for a better porcupine baby! The staff at the Red River Zoo absolutely adores her!

Here is a photo of her hanging out in her new "crib"...

Lily on Live TV

Lily sure is making a name for herself! One week after being on the radio, she was asked to be on live TV for Valley News Live. It was quite early - 5:30 am - but she didn't seem to mind saying good morning to the viewers. She did have to share the spotlight this time, however. Her "cousins," the Russian red tree squirrels were also on the news with her.

Here is the video... (by the way, thats me on TV as well at 5:30 am!)

Lily around town

On April 24th, Lily made her media debut. She was welcomed on the SAD morning radio show with Scotch and DUI on Rock102. She had a blast running around on the equipment and trying to answer the phone by standing on top of it and pushing buttons. After the show she got to meet many of the workers at Radio Fargo-Moorhead. I'm pretty sure she didn't get tired of everyone saying how cute she was.

Here is a photo with Scotch and DUI after the show...

She has a name!

After coming to the conclusion that the baby porcupine is a girl I had the difficult task of coming up with a name. As you may or may not know, adult porcupines are extremely smelly!! Therefore, I try to name the female porcupines after flowers to embrace irony. So, the baby's name is....LILY!

Here is an updated photo of her at 3 weeks old and ~ 500 grams