What could be a better way to celebrate the special Dad in your life than with a trip to the zoo?  On Sunday, June 17^th Dad's will be admitted free with a paying child.  Visitors can play "Who's Your Daddy", and even sing and dance to the sounds of the Toe Jam Puppet Band for just $5 per family in a special Sunday show.  Make your Father's Day at the zoo complete by making Dad a Zoo P.A.L.!

Toe Jam Puppet Band June Sunday Show

 Spend the Day at the Whaling Museum

Mark your calendars now because the New Bedford Whaling Museum is hosting a reciprocal weekend for all current Buttonwood Park Zoo members on Saturday, July 14^th and Sunday, July 15th!  The Museum will be open during regular hours, 9 am to 5 pm, and Zoo members will be admitted for free.  Discounted WhalingMuseum memberships will be available for purchase for anyone who might want to join during this special weekend.  Please call (508) 717-6815 or visit www.whalingmuseum.org for more information.

 

    

 

 

 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

This integrated playgroup for 2 and 3-year-olds and a parent is just the thing for your toddler.  The Bear Cub Club is six weeks long and meets on Thursdays from 10:30 - noon.  The first day of the summer session is July 12.  Pre-registration is required, and spaces are limited.  For more details, please call 508-991-6178 x 31.

Animal Spotlight: Harbor Seal

Harbor seals are marine mammals that live along the coastal shoreline in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  They spend much of their lives in the sea, but while not actively feeding they often haul out onto land to rest but make sure to remain alert for potential danger.  If hauled out near other seals, each requires his or her own personal space of a meter or more.  If touched by another seal, they respond with growling, snorting, aggressive flipper-waving, head-butting, scratching with the claws on their foreflippers, or biting.  While feisty, they are probably the least vocal of all pinnipeds (walruses, sea lions, seals, etc), and only vocalize in snorts, hissing, growls, or sneezes when they feel threatened.  Harbor seals may sleep on land or in the water.  In the water they sleep at the surface and assume a posture known as bottling-their entire bodies remain submerged with just their heads above the surface for breathing.    

Harbor seals are opportunistic feeders, eating sole, flounder, sculpin, hake, cod, herring, octopus, and squid.  They use sensitive vibrissae, similar in appearance to whiskers, to find food.  Prey moving through the water creates vibrations that the seal may detect with its vibrissae, and when caught the prey is swallowed whole. Adult harbor seals can dive for 15 to 28 minutes in search of food, but dives rarely last more than 10 minutes because most of their food is found in shallow waters. 

Buttonwood Park Zoo is currently home to four harbor seals, one of which was born at the zoo and celebrated his fourth birthday with a special "fishicle" cake on June 1^st!  When visiting the zoo, listen for announcements of special seal feedings for an opportunity to observe trained behaviors and to learn more about our harbor seals. 

Do you know the differences between a seal and a sea lion?  Next time you visit the zoo, see if you can spot the differences between our harbor seals and the bronze statues of sea lions above their pool. 

Eco-Tip: Buy Local Produce

 

«         Because it doesn't have to travel as far, the environment benefits from fewer carbon dioxide emissions when local produce is purchased.  Local food also requires less packaging.   

«         Locally grown fresh food can be consumed almost immediately after harvest, so it is sold fresher and usually riper and there is no need for chemical preservatives to artificially extend shelf-life.

«         Buying from local farmers you trust enables you to choose food grown with fewer chemicals, pesticides, or hormones. 

«         By supporting local farmers, your money remains local; supporting your local economy and the long-standing tradition of family farms.

Buying local is easy:

Shop at your local farmer's market or farm stand for the freshest, best tasting food available.  The area's first farmer's market runs Fridays 1:00 to 6:00 from June to October in South Dartmouth at Rex Field adjacent to St. PetersChurch.  New Bedford's three markets begin in July:

«         Mondays 2:00-7:00Brooklawn Park

«         Thursdays 2:00-7:00 Wings Court

«         Saturdays 9:00-1:00 Clasky Common   

The Buttonwood Park Zoo is participating in an online survey being conducted by Destination Consultancy Group (DCG) on behalf of 13 Massachusetts Visitors Bureaus of past and potential cultural visitors to Massachusetts. We would greatly appreciate it if you would complete a questionnaire based on your last visit to Massachusetts attractions. The questionnaire will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete and your answers will be kept strictly confidential.

When answering the questions consider a cultural attraction (facility, event, service or location) to be an historical, artistic, scientific, or heritage lifestyle offering in the community being visited.  Please complete the questionnaire on or before 11:59 PM PDTJune 11, 2007. 

Complete the questionnaire and enter for a chance to win a Nikon-Coolpix 6.0-Megapixel Digital Camera-Titanium-L11 or a free night at the Red Jacket Beach Resort!

Questionnaire