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Use these links to jump around or read it all...
[Capuchin
monkey] [Black-tailed prairie dog] [American badger and Ferrets] [Goat]
[Woodchuck]
[Domestic rabbit] [Red
squirrel] [Guinea pigs (cavia)] [African pygmy hedgehog]
[Richardson's Ground Squirrel] [Snowshoe
Hare]
Capuchin Monkey
Latin name: Cebus
albifrons
 Capuchin monkeys are just one
of approximately 125 monkey species in the world. Monkeys are often divided
into two groups; the Old World or African or Asian monkeys, and the New World
Monkeys.
Capuchin monkeys are best known as the monkeys used by organ
grinders. They have flexible thumbs and fingers, and a prehensile tail for
grasping. Prehensile tails are found only in New World monkeys.
These monkeys are active during the day, and spend most of their
time high up in the tree tops. Normally they come down from the trees only
to pick up fruit that has fallen to the ground. Capuchins are nomadic
monkeys and they move around from tree to tree, in small groups of five or
six searching for food. Food consists of fruit, buds and shoots, snails,
insects, small reptiles, eggs and baby birds.
Black-tailed Prairie Dog
Latin name: Cynomys luduvicianus
 There are only two Prairie Dog
colonies left in Canada. While there used to be
millions of the rodents, they have been shot, poisoned and drowned until
they are now considered a rare animal. One of the last remaining
Black-tailed Prairie Dog colonies is in southern Saskatchewan.
Prairie Dogs have larger and stouter bodies than the Richardson's
Ground Squirrel. They spend their lives in "dog towns" which may
take up several hundred acres. The entrance mounds to their burrows provide
lookout stations for them and prevent flooding of the burrows. They use the
entrance mounds to sound their alarm.  When one senses danger s/he
sits up and gives a warning cry. All the others dash for safety. When the
danger has passed the same sentry "dog" will give an all clear
signal.
Prairie Dogs are diurnal animals, they eat for a short period in
the morning, sleep during the hottest part of the day, and feed again in
the late afternoon. They are not true hibernators, unlike the ground
squirrel. Young are born in late May, average litter size is five.
Prairie dog towns may be home to hundreds of other animals. Snakes
and burrowing owls use the burrows for their homes. Prairie dogs are food
for many grassland predators including hawks, coyotes and eagles.
American Badger
Latin name: Taxidea taxus
 Badgers are large members of
the weasel family. Like their relatives; skunks, martens and weasels,
badgers have scent glands. Badgers usually live alone on the prairies.
Their burrows may be 10 metres long and three metres deep. While once
common on the Canadian prairies, their numbers have been greatly reduced by
man. This is unfortunate as badgers are useful in controlling rodent
populations.
Badgers have flattened bodies, small broad heads and powerful
legs. The claws on their front legs are much longer than those on the hind
legs. Their long claws enable them to dig after their prey. The badger's
diet consists of rodents, small mammals, birds, snakes, frogs, insects,
worms and fruit. They may live 11-13 years in captivity.
Badgers are most active during the night and they spend the
daytime hours sleeping. Most badgers hibernate during the winter, unless
the winter is especially mild.
Domestic
Ferrets
Did you know...
The Black-footed Ferret is an extirpated species in Saskatchewan? This means the ferret has been
completely wiped out in Saskatchewan. The Ferret was a casualty in the
campaign to wipe out Prairie Dogs in the early 1900’s. Today Prairie Dogs are one of our
Species At Risk, and the only place you find Prairie Dogs remaining in Saskatchewan is Grasslands National Park.
“A Mouse Like a Spear.....” by Claire Bullaro
(2002)
Have you met our outreach ambassadors: Sophia and
Beatrice, the domesticated ferrets. The pet or
domesticated ferret was developed from the European ferret. They were often
kept to rid farms and homes of rodent pests. The tame ferret was sent down a
burrow to chase out the inhabitant. [“to ferret out” = to
uncover something hidden] Their close cousins in the wild are the 10 or so
species of weasels, ermine (least weasel or stoat), polecats, mink and
ferret, including the highly endangered Black Footed Ferret of the North
American Plains. This group of mammals is part of the larger family of Mustelidae: skunks, badgers, otters, ferrets and
weasels. All have long slender bodies relative to their short limbs and
well developed anal glands that are prominent in communication and defence. [Mustela from mus
(mouse) and tela (spearlike)]
Sophia and Beatrice exhibit the long narrow body,
short legs and short fur of their wild relatives. They are an unusual
all-white colour. The wild weasels/ferrets are
generally brown or red-brown with a cream coloured
underbelly. Some, like the Black Footed Ferret and many domesticated
ferrets have a dark brown band across the eyes making them look masked .
Ferrets average about 30 - 45 cm in total length, of which at least
12 cm is the tail. They weigh a maximum of 1 kg; many weasels weigh less
than 300 grams.
Ferrets and weasels are strict carnivores adapted to
questing after small rodents, ground nesting birds
and occasionally amphibians and insects. Their long slender bodies enable
them to travel easily through dense grasses and down into the burrows and
tunnels of their prey. This long narrow body type does have its
disadvantages. It is difficult for the animal to retain body heat and
because of the length of the backbone relative to the leg length, it is difficult for it to curl up to stay warm.
Consequently, they must eat every few hours to maintain their high
metabolism. They will cache excess food for use during lean times and in
the winter. During the day the ferret will sleep underground in a burrow of
its prey. The habitats of the wild ferrets are the prairies, forests and
meadows of Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America.
Ferrets and weasels are tenacious hunters and when
they have bitten a prey animal they will not let go until it is dead. This
characteristic has been documented by a report of an eagle that avoided
being killed by a weasel it had attacked, “but lived thereafter with
the weasel’s bleached skull permanently latched onto its neck”.
Weasels and ferrets are prey for all the carnivorous species larger than
they are such as eagles, hawks, coyotes, foxes, domestic carnivores and
felines. Defence mechanisms include the release
of a foul odour from the anal gland, speed,
ferocity and the ability to squeeze into burrows that the larger animals
cannot fit into.
Beatrice and Sophia are, however, tame and when
handled correctly, are very sweet animals. They have been on many
outreaches and have enabled many people to learn about a family of animals
not often seen up close.
Title and quote from “Every Creeping
Thing” by Richard Coniff
Goat
Latin name:
 The Zoo has two types of goats.
More information coming soon....
Woodchuck
Latin name:
More information coming soon....
Domestic Rabbit
Latin name: Oryclolagus cuniculus
  There are 50 domestic species
of rabbits varying in size from small Netherland
Dwarfs (1 kg) to Flemish giants (7 kg). Wild rabbits live in all kinds of
habitats in parts of every continent except Antartica.
Rabbits feed on grasses, herbs, twigs and bark. Two
to seven
babies are produced one month after mating and up to four litters per year
is possible. Population cycles of wild rabbits are paralleled by those of
carnivores and Great Horned owls.
Red squirrel
Latin name:
More information coming soon....
Guinea pig (cavia)
Latin name:
More information coming soon....
African pygmy hedgehog
Latin name:
More information coming soon....
Richardson's Ground Squirrel
Latin name:
Although not an exhibit at the Zoo, plenty live wild on the zoo grounds.
More information coming soon....
Snowshoe Hare
Latin name:
Although not an exhibit at the Zoo, plenty live wild on the zoo grounds.
More information coming soon....
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