Fall Festivities at the Eden Animal Experience

Our staff at the Eden Animal Experience at the Creation Museum love to incorporate aspects of each season into enrichment activities for our animals. The fall months are no different.

Most of our animals receive some form of enrichment every day, but our staff varies the type and times each day so these activities do not become expected and monotonous for the animals. This helps the enrichment continue to be fun for the animals!

See how our animals are enjoying fall this year through these photos and the video below!

Playing in the Leaves

Our animals recently enjoyed playing in (and eating!) banana tree leaves from the Creation Museum’s botanical gardens. Our staff even hid some snacks, such as pumpkin, for them inside piles of leaves. Working to find their treats within the leaves is a good way to stimulate their brains.

Enjoying Pumpkins

Pumpkin is one of our animals’ favorite treats. This year, Cletus and Zoe, our zonkey and zorse, got to try out a pumpkin mobile, while George and Ferdinand, our mini zebu steers, and our goats searched out pumpkins in their leaf piles. Our staff was able to recycle these pumpkins from Fall Fun Day so that they did not go to waste after the event.

Bobbing for Apples

Gomer, one of our camels, along with a few of our goats in the petting zoo area had the opportunity to go bobbing for apples and other vegetables. Tumnus, one of our pygmy goats, tried his best!

Examining the Scarecrow

New to the fall enrichment activities this year was a scarecrow for our goats! Using ripped pants from one of our staff members, they stuffed the legs with hay, used a 5-gallon puzzle feeder filled with pumpkin and sweet potatoes for the body, and topped it off with a pumpkin for the head!

Exploring the Chalk Art

As a form of sensory enrichment, which encourages visual, auditory, olfactory senses, our staff has begun adding chalk art to our animal enclosures—this time with fall tree drawings. This encourages them to explore their environment and enclosure more.

See For Yourself!

To see these different enrichment activities in action, check out the Facebook Live video our social media team recently recorded with Leanne, our zoo manager.

Keep an eye out for the different types of enrichment activities that are happening at the Eden Animal Experience when you visit the Creation Museum. Share your favorite pictures of our animals on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using #creationmuseum.