Animal Enclosure and Enrichment Fund

One of our latest projects at the Piedmont Wildlife Center has been to install a cover over our opossum enclosure. The goal of this project is to reduce stress, aggressive behaviors, and preserve good health for our opossum, Peaches. Increased amounts of chronic stress are a leading cause of mortality for opossums in captive settings. High levels of stress can impact immune system function, making individuals more susceptible to diseases and health issues. Additionally, stress in a captive setting can lead to an increase in aggressive behaviors when handling.

This project is headed by one of the Wildlife Education interns and has been hand-designed and installed after studying the behaviors of Peaches to assess her needs. The cover blocks Peaches' view of people moving around the trailer, allowing her to engage in her natural behaviors throughout the day without distraction or added stress. When covers are drawn, Peaches can be found running, grooming, or napping. 

This project was made possible thanks to donations from our community. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to build new materials for the enclosure and purchase new cameras to keep an eye on our opossum and monitor her behaviors behind the cover. Future efforts will be put towards a more permanent enclosure cover setup and continued enrichment.

Thank you for supporting the Animal Enclosure and Enrichment Fund. Your donations directly improve the well-being of all of our ambassadors, enabling us to add mosquito netting, maintain enclosure cleanliness with thorough deep cleans, and provide new enrichment materials. Recent volunteer groups from local schools, companies, and organizations have donated their time to help maintain our enclosures and create enrichment.

Edgar, our Common Raven heavily relies on enrichment. Common Ravens are brilliant birds whose intelligence is comparable to that of a human toddler. Enrichment, such as food hidden in puzzles, sounds, and ropes, is all around his enclosure. This enrichment allows Edgar to be challenged and stimulate his brain by solving physical puzzles, tearing paper and ropes, and interacting with objects that make different sounds. Edgar currently has the oldest enclosure on our site. We make upgrades where possible, such as adding new gravel to his floor and replacing perches, but he is due for a new enclosure. With your help, we can continue to provide enrichment and upgrade enclosures for all of our Wildlife Ambassadors, including Edgar!