Silverback

If you grew-up in Milwaukee you know exactly who this is.

 

click on images for a closer look

 

Samson arrived at the Washington Park Zoo in 1950 as a baby with another baby gorilla called Sambo.  They came from Africa as a gift from the Pabst Brewing Company.  Shortly after their arrival both of these lowland gorillas came down with serious colds and almost perished. 

 

When the Zoo moved to its current location on Blue Mound Road the Primate House was the first building opened to the public.  Both Samson and Sambo moved to their new quarters on October 2, 1959.  Sambo died one month later, Nov. 2, 1959.  At the time both Samson and Sambo were estimated to be 10 years old. 

 

Samson was one of the zoo’s most popular residents and my childhood memory of him was his enormous girth (topping out at 652 pounds) and his propensity for charging and striking the glass enclosure of his cage.  An entire generation of school children grew-up terrified of this impressive silverback gorilla. 

 

Samson died November 27, 1981 of a heart attack.  The Milwaukee Public Museum recreated Samson in an exhibit: Samson Remembered – with his likeness crafted by Wendy Christensen. 

 

 

You can learn more about the history of the Milwaukee Zoo's most famous resident here.

Don't Kiss The Frog!

Sunday – January 6th - was the last day of Frogs! at the Milwaukee Public Museum.  One of the most advanced traveling frog exhibitions in the country Jill and I took the opportunity to take-in and experience the vocal and visual beauty of these frogs from around the world. The exhibition has moved-on and this is the third of several postings I promised to publish over the next couple of weeks.  Be sure to check back and learn more about the herps - my favorite people.  

You do not want to kiss these frogs because the most poisonous animal around is not a snake or a spider.  It might be one of these stunningly beautiful frogs.  While most frogs produce skin toxins - these Central and South America amphibians are the most deadly of all.  The Golden Poison Frog (Phyllobates terribilis) holds enough toxin that an amount of poison equal to 2-3 grains of table salt is enough to cause the death of a human.       

From the exhibition are the Blue Poison Frog (Dendrobates tinctorius "azureus") and Dyeing Poison Frog (Dendrobates tinctorius). 

click on images for a closer look

The Yellow-banded or Bumblebee Poison Frog (Dendrobates leucomelas) and green-and-black poison frog (Dendrobates auratus).     








These poison frogs play an important role in the culture of indigenous South American hunters.  The tips of blow darts are inoculated with poison by rubbing the dart tips over the skin of a frog, stabbing or slowly roasting a frog causing it to excrete a toxic white foam.  The toxin tipped darts are destructive enough to kill bats, birds and monkeys. 

If you are wondering why these frogs can survive in the wild while sporting such brilliant and vivid coloration the answer is simple – they can.

Gigolo!

Sunday – January 6th - was the last day of Frogs! at the Milwaukee Public Museum.  One of the most advanced traveling frog exhibitions in the country Jill and I took the opportunity to take-in and experience the vocal and visual beauty of these frogs from around the world. The exhibition has moved on and this is the second of several postings I’ll publish over the next couple of weeks.  So be sure to check back periodically and learn something about my favorite people - the herps.

Behold Trachycephalus resinifictrix – the Amazon Milk Frog. 

click on image for a closer look

 

This frog’s range includes French Guiana, Brazil, Ecuador and the Peruvian Amazon. 

It lives and breeds in wet tree tops of the tropical forest.  During the breeding season the calling of the male milk frog lures a female to deposit two to three thousand eggs in his water-filled tree hole.  She leaves the male to fertilize them and care for the young.  After a couple of weeks and the tadpoles hatch the male lures another female to lay her eggs in the same water hole.  He doesn’t fertilize the second batch of eggs but uses them to feed his hungry tadpoles.  By feigning a love interest he tricks the second female into delivering food for babies that are not hers. 

Gigolo.

Herps!

Herpetology (from the Greek ἑρπετόν herpetón, meaning reptile or creeping animal) is that branch of zoology focused-upon the study of reptiles and amphibians.  You know – snakes, turtles, lizards, toads, frogs, salamanders and other associated critters.  

Not many people know this but frogs and toads are both amphibians and while they share many similarities they are also different.  As a general rule - frogs spend most of their lives in or near water while toads are more terrestrial.  A frog’s skin is smooth and a toad's skin is bumpy.  Technically-speaking a toad is a type of frog and Wisconsin is home to twelve species of frog - including the American Toad.  Got that straight?  Herps are some of my best kind of people.  But I digress. 

Sunday – January 6^th - was the last day of Frogs! at the Milwaukee Public Museum.  One of the most advanced traveling frog exhibitions in the country Jill and I took the opportunity to take-in and experience the vocal and visual beauty of these frogs from around the world. 
The exhibition has moved on but stop-by and visit the blog from time-to-time as I’ll publish some additional postings over the next couple of weeks.   

This is not a cow pie or Jabba the Hutt – it’s an African bullfrog.  Capable of growing up to eight inches in diameter they eat just about anything that moves – including small birds and mammals.  In the wild this frog can burrow underground and go without food and water for months at a time. With the arrival of the seasonal rains they emerge to feed and mate.  The male guards the tadpoles that swim around him for protection.  While protecting the swimming tadpoles the adult will also feed on them.  After metamorphosis the froglets often eat their smaller siblings. 

This guy is fed rodents once a month after which he sleeps it-off.

click on the image for a closer look