Don't miss the spring chicks during your visit to Buttonwood Farm!  These chicks were hatched from eggs laid by our resident hens.

The 8^th Annual Dog Walk and Pet Fest for Homeless Pets will be held on Sunday, May 20, in Buttonwood Park from 11:00 to 3:00 PM.  The day will begin with a Dog Walk to raise money to support the efforts of the Humane Coalition for Animals, an all-volunteer group of local animal welfare organizations and advocates dedicated to making a difference in the lives of animals.   Registration for the Dog Walk will take place between 11:00 and 12:00; the Dog Walk begins at 12:00 PM.  Walkers with and without dogs are welcome!  There will be great prizes such as first prize of a Satellite Radio with car kit in the adult category (must raise $500.00 to be eligible), first prize in the kid's category of an IPOD (must raise $200.00 to be eligible), and prizes for walkers who raise over $50 and $100.  In the past, walkers have been successful in getting sponsors at work, from their family, and from friends and neighbors.                    

After the walk the park will be filled with fun and activities, including:

«         A "Doggie Fashion Show" sponsored by Doggie Boutique of New Bedford

«         Carabiner's 42' high Portable Rock Climbing Tower (please note that children under 18 need  must have a Carabiner's waiver form signed by a parent and a copy of a parent's license for signature verification if the parent is not present)

«         New Bedford Police K-9 Demo Team

«         Marla Issacs' Birds of Prey

«         Information tables on rescue groups, shelters and other activities

«         Music by Dave Antunes

«         Refreshments and food

«         Merchandise tables

Sponsors include Petco, Mr. Cesspool Sanitation Service, Down to Earth Natural Foods for Pets and People, Buttonwood Park Zoo, Carabiner's Indoor Rock Climbing Gym, and Domino's Pizza.

Walk brochures and sponsor sign-up sheets are available by calling New Bedford Animal Control at 991-6366 or Animal Advocates 991-7727 or by visiting Buttonwood Park Zoo. You can also log onto www.nbaco.info to download the brochure and sign up sheet.

 Zoo Crew Summer Program

Is your child registered for Zoo Crew? Zoo Crew is a summer program designed especially for children ages 8-12. Each session's curriculum is aligned with the Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Frameworks and has been developed to have a balance of outdoor and classroom learning, educational games and activities, crafts and fun! Learn about animals; explore different zoo careers, and much more. Each week- long program runs 9:00 - 3:00, Monday through Friday.

• July 30 - Aug. 3 The Animal Kingdom
• Aug. 6 - Aug. 10 You Belong in a Zoo
• Aug. 13 - Aug. 17 The Big Blue Ocean

Toe Jam Puppet Band May Sunday Show

 Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches?

May Eco-Tip:

Reusable Shopping Bags

The inspiration for this month's eco-tip comes from an all too common incident here at the zoo.  Occasionally an escaped plastic shopping bag will float from outside zoo grounds, into the zoo, and into an animal exhibit.  Such novel objects are hard to resist for our curious animals and the bags inevitably find their way into an exploratory mouth, resulting in the scrambling of zookeepers to confiscate the plastic bag before it is swallowed.  Luckily, zookeepers have been one hundred percent successful in preventing injury to our animals by ingestion of these bags.

But our animals at Buttonwood Park Zoo are not the only ones threatened by renegade plastic bags.  Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food. Turtles think the bags are jellyfish, their primary food source. Once swallowed, plastic bags choke animals or block their intestines, leading to an agonizing death. On land, many cows, goats and other animals suffer a similar fate to marine life when they accidentally ingest plastic bags while foraging for food.

Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are distributed worldwide, a remarkable one million per minute.  Millions of gallons of oil are used to produce these bags, and upon being discarded they don't biodegrade.  Instead, they photodegrade, breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits that contaminate soil and waterways. 

San Francisco very recently banned the use of plastic shopping bags, but until that happens nationwide the best alternative to using disposable grocery bags, be they paper OR plastic, is to invest in a reusable bag or two.  Inexpensive reusable bags are now found at most large grocery stores, or can be purchased on-line.  Try ReusableBags.com.

If using reusable bags just isn't an option for you, consider the following:

«        Reuse your plastic bags as trash bags or in cleaning up after your four-legged friends.

«        Recycle your plastic bags at grocery store entrances.    

«      If you really must throw a plastic bag away, tie it in a knot.   

We'd like to introduce the latest addition to our staff.  Erine Anderson has joined the Buttonwood Park Zoological Society as our new Volunteer Coordinator.  She will be making some exciting revisions and additions to the volunteer programs offered at the zoo over the next few months, so keep your eyes open for opportunities! If you would like to contact Erine feel free to send an email to her at eanderson@bpzoo.org.