Meet the NBS Animals!

Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis borealis)

NBS currently has two resident Red-Tailed hawks.  These birds are common raptors that live all over north America, including in deserts, farmlands, forests, rainforests, and urban areas.  The only parts of North America where they are not found are arctic areas, and places where the forest is vast, dense and unbroken - because the hawks can't see their prey through the trees!

In the wild, Red-Tailed Hawks eat small mammals, such as rabbits, bats and rodents, as well as reptiles and other small birds.  Our two hawks can no longer hunt on their own, because of injuries that prevent them from flying and seeing well. 

Red-Tailed hawks are brown on thier backs, and white underneath, which helps to camouflage them while flying.  From above, their darker colors blend into the land, while from below the white underbelly looks lighter, to match the sky.

Ball Python 

Barred Owl 

Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps)

Bearded dragons are reptiles, native to the arid and semi-arid woodlands and deserts of central Australia.  They are solitary animals, but when they do come across other Bearded Dragons in the wild, they communicate by bobbing their heads and inflating the loose skin under the jaw, which looks like a spiky beard - thus the name!

One of the adaptations to their habitat is the sandy coloring of their skin.  It helps the reptiles blend into the desert and dry woodlands.  This coloring that helps an animal blend into it's habitat is called camouflage.

Like all reptiles, Bearded Dragons are exothermic (or "cold blooded").  This means that their body temperature changes along with the outside temperature.  When it is cold outside, their body temperature drops too.  In the wild, Bearded Dragons use their long claws to climb up on branches to bask in the sun when they are too cold, and dig under the ground to cool off when they get too hot

Netherlands Dwarf Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) 

NBS's resident rabbit was only born with three legs, but this doesn't seem to bother her in the least!  Her ancestors come from England, but she is a domestic breed of rabbit, which means that she is very different from the wild cottontail rabbits seen in New England.  She is smaller, and her fur looks and feels different.

These rabbits have long ears and a sensitive nose, so they can sense their predators from far away.  They also have a wide field of vision, because their eyes are on the sides of their heads (binocular vision) instead of on the front, like ours are.  This helps them to watch out for predators as well.

Rabbits have long hind legs to leap quickly, and strong claws for digging.  Many types of rabbits will burrow underground for shelter.  Some will make nests, called forms, while others live socially in complex burrow networks called warrens.

Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapine ornate)

These Box Turtles are native to the Great Plains and prairies of the central United States.  In the wild, they are opportunistic omnivores, which means they eat whatever is available - including bugs, mushrooms, fallen berries, flowers, grass, duckweed and dead vertebrates!

The shells are made of bone, which is covered in scales.  Unlike some turtle species, the Ornate Boxed Turtle shell is hinged.  This means they can close up their shell completely, and predators have nothing to bite or hang on to: the turtles can stay snug inside their shell until it is safe to come out again.  The upper shell is called a carapace and the lower shell is a plastron.  Each segment on the shell is a specialized scale called a scute.

In the wild, Ornate Box Turtles will lay 2-8 eggs at a time, once or twice a year.  They bury the eggs in a hole in the ground and leave them there.  Like most reptiles, the turtles do not guard their nest, and the young are on their own from the moment they hatch.

Dumbo Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Unlike many of the other animals here at the Sanctuary, rats prefer to live with people.  They are extremely smart, and have learned and adapted to live with humans.

Some rats are domesticated, such as Katrina and Yvette- they lives with us as education animals.  Other rats are feral, which means they aren't pets.  Feral rats find food largely by scavenging for things that people throw away.  They are generally urban animals, which means that they prefer cities and suburbs over the wild.

These rats originally came from Asia, and spread to Europe.  They travelled across the Atlantic Ocean with humans on the ships, and finally made it to North America.

Red-Eared Slider

Rosie, and other Red-eared Sliders get their name from the bright red markings on the sides of their heads.  In the wild, they prefer to live in ponds and slow-moving rivers.  These Turtles are native to parts of the southern United States.  However, it is very important to remember that, even though they are sold in pet stores around the country, they should never be released into the wild!  When introduced to new areas, red-eared sliders can cause serious problems to the native ecosystem.

These aquatic turtles have a stremlined shell to help them move easily through the water, and webbed feet that help them to swim, and walk on top of the mud.

Female Red-eared Sliders are larger than the males, as with many species of turtles.  The gender of each turtle is determined by the temperature around their eggs.  If the nest is warm, it will produce females, while cool nests make males!

Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)

Little Jo has been living at the Sanctuary for a long time.  She is a native species to Rhode Island.  Painted Turtles like Little Jo can be found in rivers, lakes, ponds and marshes all over North America, and they prefer soft, muddy bottoms which help to keep them warm.

Unlike the Box Turtles, Painted Turtles can not close their shells completely, but they can pull all their limbs inside.  They have webbed feet that helps them to swim through the water, and their shell is smooth and flat.  The red markings on the shell, and red and yellow stripes on their neck make them look like they have been painted, which is how they get their name!

In the wild, Painted Turtles will eat crickets, maggots, beetles and larvae while they are young.  As they grow older, they add duckweed, algea and waterlilies to their diet.  Little Jo eats crickets, mealworms, vegetables and fruits.

Asian (Chinese) Box Turtle (Cistoclemmys flavomarginata)

These Box Turtles come from the coastal regions and river valleys of Southern China, Japan and Taiwan.  Like the Ornate Box Turtle, they have a hinged shell that allows them to withdraw into it completely to hide from predators.  They can also sense vibrations and changes in the water which lets them know if a predator, or prey is nearby.

Asian Box Turtles hibernate during the winter.  They have strong claws that help them to dig burrows in the ground, where they can stay warm.  They can live up to 30 years.

In the wild, these turtles eat slugs, worms, insects and plants.  As they get older, they tend to eat less insects, and eat mostly plant material.  Our resident Box Turtles eat mealworms, crickets, fruit and vegetables.

Mexican Red-Kneed Tarantula

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Lion Head Rabbit

Wood Frog