Animals

Mill Mountain Zoo features many types of animals.

Mammals

Mammals are warm-blooded (can regulate their body temperature) and vertebrate (has a backbone) animals. This includes humans! They have fur or hair, they give birth to live young, can produce milk for their young, and often-times have a more well-developed brains than other types of animals.

Black bears, despite their name, can be blue-gray or blue-black, brown, cinnamon, blonde, or even (very rarely) white. They have dense, shaggy fur that helps protect them from cold winters. Black bears use their strong, curved claws to climb trees and dig for food. They are a smaller bear species compared to grizzly and brown bears.

The American Guinea Hog has a thin and wiry black coat, which makes them sensitive to sun. One of he reasons they roll in the mud is to protect their skin form the sun and bugs. They also have large, upright ears that are especially hairy to keep dirt and bugs out of them when they root (using their snout to dig in the ground for tasty treats). They have an especially flexible snout, which is helpful when foraging for food. American Guinea hogs are also known as wild boars.

Asian small-clawed otters are the smallest of the 13 otter species. They have a sleek, thin body with dark brown fur on the top of their body and a lighter tan on their underside. They have small, partially webbed claws on their front paws, which give them their name. These claws are used for tasks such as grooming and manipulating food. They have excellent vision both underwater and on land.

Eurasian Lynx are medium size cats that come in variety of colors and patterns. The three main coat patterns are mostly spotted, mostly striped, and unpatterned. Coat color can vary with the season and locality. They have long legs and large, snowshoe-like paws. Both their short tail and ear tufts are tipped with black fur. They are the largest of the four species of lynx species.

Indian crested porcupines are one of the world's largest rodents. Being a rodent, their teeth never stop growing, so they oftentimes are chewing on wood or hard vegetables to keep their teeth from being overgrown. Their bodies are covered in dark brown quills, modified hairs with barbs at the ends, which makes them sharp and an excellent defense against predators. The Indian Crested Porcupine gets its name from long quills around their head and neck that stand up when they are frightened.

Pallas cats, also known as the manul, their flat forehead and low ears allow them to peek over bushes and rocks without exposing themselves to their prey. Instead of closing to a slit like other small cats, Pallas cat pupils close to form a small circle. A thick coat of shaggy fur and a long, bushy tail help combat extreme temperatures that reach lows nearing -60ºF.

Raccoons have black fur around their eyes, a dense gray coat, and their tails are ringed with black and gray stripes. The five toes on a raccoon’s front paws are extremely dexterous like fingers and allow them to grasp and manipulate food and other objects, including doorknobs, jars, and latches. Their long, bushy tail helps with balance and serves various functions, such as aiding in swimming and climbing.

Red foxes have a distinctive reddish-brown fur, although the exact coloration can vary. They often have a white underbelly, throat, and chin. Some individuals have dark or silver fur. One of their most notable features is their bushy, white-tipped tail. The tail is often long and serves multiple purposes, including balance, communication, and warmth.

They have soft, dense fur covering their body to keep them warm in their high altitude environment, including a bushy tail that helps with balance and acts as a blanket. They are approximately the size of a housecat and resemble a raccoon more than a giant panda.

Oftentimes red wolves are confused for coyotes as they look highly similar. Their fur can vary in coloration but they often have a reddish coat with a black-tipped tail and lighter coloration around their muzzle/mouth. They are much smaller than their grey wolf relatives and are not as aggressive.

Snow leopards are known for their thick fur, which is pale gray or cream-colored, often with rosettes and spots on their coats that act as camouflage in their snowy habitat. These spots provide excellent concealment in their environment. Their long tails are used for balance, but also warmth. Their paws are large to act as snow shoes as they traverse across snowy mountaintops.

The Vietnamese Pot-belled Pig is plain black naturally but have been bred to have other colorations. They have large bellies and short legs that give them the characteristic round "pot-bellied" appearance. They are often smaller than most farm pigs.

Reptiles

Reptiles are cold-blooded (animals that cannot regulate their temperature) and vertebrate (has a spine) animals. They have dry skin covered with scales or bony plates and usually lay soft-shelled eggs.

The shells and skin are a brownish or yellowish in color, perfect for blending into a desert habitat. The head and limbs are the same color as the shell and are protected with thick scales. There are one or more enlarged, conical spurs (or tubercles) on the upper hind limbs. African spurred tortoises will dig burrows in order to conserve moisture. The burrows may reach up to 10 feet below ground. Their skin is thickened and aids in the prevention of water loss. Much of the water they need to survive is extracted from the succulent vegetation that they feed on.

The black and white tegu is the largest species of tegus. These tegus are known for their distinctive black and white coloration, with a pattern of black bands or stripes across their bodies. Characterized by their robust build, these tegus have a unique appearance with a relatively long, thick tail, and powerful legs. Male tegus have bigger jowls ("chubby cheeks") than females.  These jowls will have large jaw muscles and can be used to attract mates. Tegus have a forked tongue that helps them pick up scent particles in multiple directions in order to better identify their surroundings. They are terrestrial reptiles, spending a lot of their time on the ground, and are known to be proficient diggers.

The red-eared slider is native to the Southern United States and northern Mexico, but has become established in other places because of pet releases, and has become invasive in many areas where it outcompetes native species.

Endangered due to habitat loss/fragmentation, road mortality, agricultural machinery mortality, predators, poaching, invasive plants, degraded water quality, emerging diseases.

Grow to between 5.5 and 7.9 inches in straight carapace length.

Amphibians

Amphibians are cold-blooded (animals that cannot regulate their temperature), aquatic (water-living) young, and vertebrate (has a spine) animals. Unlike reptiles, they do not have scales. They often have a terrestrial (land-living) adult stage but need to be near water throughout their life.

Also known as the Azureus Dart Frog or Dyeing Dart Frog. A very variable poison dart frog they are mostly blue in color with a varying degree of black spots. The blue can range from a very dark, deep blue to a light sky blue in some individuals.

Bumblebee dart frogs are yellow, gold or orange with black or brown patches. They have adhesive pads on their toes which help them to climb and they have a sticky tongue which they use to catch prey.

Depending on the microgeographic region the frogs live in, their coloration, usually a uniform metallic golden yellow, can also be deep orange or a metallic silver-green sometimes described as mint green. Some adults have black markings on the snout and toes. Juveniles are black with a pair of gold stripes along the sides of the back and underbody. They have 4 unwebbed toes on each foot and a bony teeth-like plate in their upper jaw (differing them from other dart frogs).

Birds

Birds are warm-blooded (can regulate their body temperature), egg-laying, and vertebrate (has a backbone) animals. They have wings (though some cannot fly), feathers, and a beak.

Adult Bald Eagles have dark brown feathers covering their body. The feathers on the head and tail are white. They have a distinctive yellow beak and feet. Immature bald eagles are mostly brown and with some mottled white, they develop their adult coloring at around the age of 5 years old.

Barn owls typically have a heart-shaped facial disk that is usually white or light tan in color. Their plumage is generally a mixture of pale, tawny, and dark brown feathers, providing excellent camouflage in their natural habitats. They often have spots and speckles on their wings and back, contributing to their mottled appearance. Ears are asymmetrical, which helps them pinpoint exactly where a noise comes from.  They're hearing is so precise they can effectively hunt in total darkness.

They have a green body and yellowish bill and iris. Males have a pale grey head with black nape (at the back of the head), yellow throat, and golden yellow and pink under-tail feathers.  The female and the young have entirely green plumage.  

They are small birds with relatively large heads. They have downward curved beaks with short legs. This bird has a cream-colored head and chest, with pale-blue bellies and dark green wings. Their tail has 2 streamers that follow behind the rollers in flight.

The most abundant of the world's cranes. Long-legged, long-necked bird with a noticeable patch of bald, red skin on the top of its head.

Military macaws are mostly green with a red forehead and upper tail feathers, they have bare white faces with small rows of black and red feathers. Their tail feathers are blue with bluish-red shorter feathers on top. Their eyes are yellow, their beak is a dark grey, and their legs are a lighter grey.

Their feathers offer excellent camouflage so they are hard to spot. They are intricately patterned in brown, tan, rust, and black. Males have a black-and-white head pattern. Females have a tan throat and eyebrows.

Bright red bills, a blue body, heads are black with a speckled crown and orange skin surrounding the eyes. The bright blue tails are one of the longest in the corvid (crow) family and have a diamond shape when extended in flight.

Small, short-tailed starlings with a long and narrow beak, round bodies, and a distinctive feather pattern.  Adults have black heads and iridescent blue-to-green back, chest, wings, and tail. The belly is red orange, separated from the blue chest by a white bar. The under-tail feathers and the wing linings are white.  

Cattle Egrets are different from other species of egrets in that they have much shorter and thicker necks. This stocky white heron has yellow feathers on its head and neck during breeding season.

They are a medium-sized perching duck. The males are more elaborate with multicolored iridescent plumage and red eyes, with a distinctive white flare down the neck. Females are less colorful with a white eye-ring and a whitish throat.  Both adults have crested heads.

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