Marmoset's and Pitch Perception!

In taking a look at Marmosets, scientists have found that they process pitch much the same way as humans do. This is a really cool look at how they have studied the Marmoset's pitch perception! http://www.futurity.org/marmosets-monkeys-pitch-1080182-2/

The Common Marmoset

There are 3 big rules that I need you to remember when it comes to marmosets. 

1. They don't like bright lights.

2. never get them wet.

3. Never feed them after midnight. 

We all saw what happened last time someone broke those rules!

Ok I am kidding, those were the lovable Mogwai that turn into "Gremlins" in the 1984 Steven Spielberg's movie. That's the first thing that came to mind when I saw that picture so I ran with it. :)

The Common Marmoset is a native of South America. Atlantic coast Brazil. You can usually find them in a tree in jungle areas. They are arboreal, which means that they don't spend a lot of time on the ground. They are really fast moves that can jump long distances. Marmosets are opportunistic so they will move into new territories if they get the chance.

Marmosets have varied diets. They eat spiders, tree sap, bird eggs, small vertebrates are all in their diets. The males can be up to 1 pound in size and the females will be bit lighter. They are unique primates in that the males and females are almost indistinguishable. 

Marmosets are very social animals and live in groups from either 3 to 17 marmosets at a time. The gestation period for Marmosets is around 150 days. It is very common for them to give birth to twins and there are times when they can give birth to 3 or 4 young at once. 

Next time you're in Timbavati Wildlife Park check out our Marmosets. Jest remember when you are watching them that they are as interested in you as you are in them.

The Ring-tailed Lemur AKA Lemur Catta

The Ring-tailed Lemur as pictured above looks a lot to me like a 4 pound squirrel. It isn't part of the rodent family at all though. In fact, it's actually a primate. Unlike its monkey cousins and contrary to this picture, the Ring-tailed Lemur spends a lot of time on the ground in its native country of Madagascar.

Ring-tailed Lemurs are social animals that live in small packs called troops. A troop of lemurs can be as large as 30 animals but typically has around 15-17 members. Female Ring-Tails are the troop leaders and stay with their troops for life. Males will take up with a troop but can move from troop to troop.

The Ring-tailed Lemur enjoys a diet of fruits, figs, flowers, leaves and insects, you know everything in the Madagascar Food Pyramid. :) They aren't great swimmers so they avoid going into water. Through grooming and a steady diet of sun bathing, they rarely soil their fur.

When the Ring-Tailed Lemur troop is threatened they sound an alarm thats very distinctive. Check it out.

The Ring-tailed Lemur has a breeding season that lasts about 2 weeks. The gestation period lasts around 130 days. One way that males in troops compete for dominance is through stink fights. I know right? See lemurs have glands in their wrists and under their arms. A male will get his tail filled with stink by rubbing it under his arms and then shake it at his opponent. I think whoever walks away the smelliest is the looser. You can view this break dance battle in the video below at your own risk. I never know who's won those either LOL.

Timbavati Wildlife Park is home to a small troop of Ring-tailed lemurs and we hope you enjoy them on your next visit to our park. 

What Do You Know About Porcupines?

Right!!! Do not touch them! I think that most of us can agree on the fact that we won’t be handling any porcupines anytime soon. We all know them for their notorious B.A.R.B.’s (bad boy take that take that) but I would suggest that the average person has never given much thought to how beautiful a creature the porcupine actually is.  Check out this video I found of this one squeaking like a little cute porcupine!

Yep they make a noise and it much more pleasant than a camel spider, mater of fact if you ever hear a camel spider its probably too late and you’ve already been bitten. Anyways lol, moving on from that :). Let’s begin with what we already know.

Porcupines have quills. If you have ever seen the movie "Critters", a porcupine’s quills are large and of course dangerous. The slightest touch can dislodge them. The quills also have small barbs on them like the stinger on a bee or like the bark on a fishing hook. This means that if you’re unfortunate enough to have gotten hooked on a porcupine’s quills that you’re going to experience a significant amount of trauma removing them.

Here are some other interesting porcupine tidbits. Their backs aren’t all quills; the quills are mixed with hair. The quills will lay flat until the porcupine feels threatened and then they are extended to protect the little critters. Once the quills have come out they grow new ones.

Porcupines are herbivores, in the winter they munch on tree bark and evergreen needles. In summer they consume things like, grasses, leaves and dandelions. They have even been known to gnaw on canoe paddles at campsites. Porcupines are nocturnal and are good swimmers. I am not sure if that makes them skinny dippers or not, haa whatevs.

Porcupines live in dens, which can range from rock crevices to hollow logs to crawl spaces under your house. They seem to prefer grasslands but are equally at home in rocky terrains. The African Crested Porcupine is a native of Mount Kilimanjaro and has been spotted at elevations as high as 11,000 feet, that’s over 2 miles high.

There are about two-dozen different kinds of porcupines. Timbavati Wildlife Park is home to two different species, The North American Porcupine and the African Crested Porcupine. I think you get the “Point”. :)

Thank You For A Great Season!

As the leaves begin to turn colors and old man winter comes down from his perch to plunge our landscape into a deep freeze, we are now making preparations to close our park to the public and prepare ourselves for the winter. This season has been a great one for us as we opened two major attractions.

The first one was the Parakeet encounter. This has been a great experience for our guests. Most people have only experienced parakeets that were kept as pets. In our parakeet encounter, you get to join our feathery friends in their enclosure. It has been a big hit with our guests.

Our second large addition this year was the Spider Monkey Encounter. The encounter gave us a chance to experience primates with prehensile tails (Tails that can grab). The Spider Monkey Exhibit has given us a great upgrade as we continue our conversion from a Water Park to a WildlifePark.

On our last weekend in operation (Our last day is Sunday November 1^st) we want to extend a thank you to all of our friends, visitors and supporters. We sincerely want to thank you all for your continued friendship as we prepare ourselves for 2016 and what the future has in store.

We will be upgrading the park and updating our pages throughout the winter. Please stay tuned to our social networks and feeds as we will be updating them regularly.  

Thank You!

Growing and Building: A Reflection Of Our Path and Progress

This story begins with the end of another. For years Timbavati Wildlife Park was an attraction within Storybook Gardens which some of you might remember as being a staple in the Wisconsin Dells since 1957. With an infrastructure that was beyond its time and our need to expand our offerings, we took over the Riverview Waterpark in 2011 and moved our Timbavati family.

To that point I ask you? What is the cost of ambition? What does a visionary endure during transition and growth? It is an interesting query for me as a writer because history is full of the successes and failures of those who dared to dream. That is a precursor to my understanding of what it takes to transform a water park into a Wildlife Park.

As an independent and family business, devoid of corporate politics and budgets (fortunately and un), making this vision a reality takes time, patience, perseverance and fortitude. Here are a couple of pictures of what the place used to look like as Riverview Park.

We began diligently working on the 55-acre property in 2011 and opened our doors to start off the 2013 tourist season. The first major construction project was erecting the rock wall. I don’t know how many people actually consider the wall and the efforts that it takes to put a structure like this up, but to do that through a winter season was it's own adventure.

A picture from our friends at thoughtsfromher.com

Please allow me to remind you that Timbavati Wildlife Park is a labor of lifestyle that the Schoebel Family subscribes to. This isn’t a government or corporate funded project. This is a family from the mid-west with a can-do attitude, a personal financial commitment and a Patriarch in Mark Schoebel that believes in doing things now.

In addition to building the landmark rock wall, the water slides had to be dismantled, a barn was erected for the giraffe encounter, and a feline house was constructed. Rockwork, flowerbeds, grass lay out, we EVEN bent steel for the railroad track that goes through the park. There’s a lot of work that went into our efforts for that first season that we are proud of and happy to bring to life.

That is a construction discussion; let’s consider the most important denizens of Timbavati Wildlife Park, the animals. 

Feline Enclosure Under Construction

I asked Mark how he came into raising exotic animals and he told me it was something he was born into. When I met his son Matt, I could see that same reverence for the animals, most notably the camels that he is very close to. It’s funny, because you also see Matt’s kids bouncing around the park that they will look back on as adults and refer to as “The place they were raised in”. I can’t stress enough that a place most people look at as a tourist destination or an attraction is a home to both this family and their animals.

Matt Schoebel astride his camels on World Camel Day

The animals also live with the family on their farm. There are nurseries and facilities in both locations. Before a lot of the animals are presented to the public for interaction, they are reared on the farm. Alice Schoebel, the Matriarch of the Schoebel family personally tends to the young animals as they are born or brought in as infants.

The level of trust between the Schoebels, Timbavati staff and animals is apparent when you see the interactions between them. Penguins who are typically timid, run toward Alice at break neck speed when they hear her voice. I personally have seen both Lions and Tigers purr and lick Mark’s hands when he approached them. This is a testament to how much time they have spent with their animals and the lifelong relationships that they have with each other. Here are videos of both Alice and the Penguins and Mark with the Clouded Leopards. 

Alice and the Penguins Blog

Timbavati’s animal population is not only made up of animals that have been raised from babies but is also a home for animal rescues. Most people who visit the park wouldn’t consider that but the Schoebels provide a home for animals that might otherwise not survived. 

This not only details the level of care that the Schoebel family gives animals, but also how complex the world of Timbavati Wildlife Park can be. If an animal is in crisis, construction projects, P.R., and human problems are put on hold. I think about that if I see a crooked sign or when someone makes mention of not seeing enough staff members when they are in the park. You never know what need has an immediate bearing on the staff at any given time.

This year Timbavati Wildlife Park again took on some very aggressive construction projects. Two very notable projects have been the Spider Monkey and Parakeet Encounters. The Spider Monkey encounter gives us a great look at the primates swinging to and fro while the Parakeet Encounter allows you to interact with our feathery friends on their terms.

Spider Money Encounter

Parakeet Encounter

We have created new pond enclosures in the park and if you climb to the top of our observation tower, you can get a great overview of our layout and room for growth. Growth and vision take time. Sometimes there are bumps in the road and honestly a lot of times there are just potholes that you can’t avoid. You do your best to accommodate every obstacle with all of the preparation and experience that you have available to you and live with that as your comfort.

Nothing will be better than the look of wonder and excitement that you experience when you see the childish expressions of a grand parent that is more excited to see an animal than the child is. We see people imagine, they wonder, they forget the outside and remember just how marvelous this world we live in can be through the experience that we provide them. That is our motivation and why we will continue to grow and build. Thank you for support!

Wisconsin Dells Fall Festival Weekend

It’s that time of year again where the birds begin to pack up and fly south. When the animals hibernate and our kids select the goblin and super hero costumes that they want to be for Trick or Treating. This time of year in the Wisconsin Dells also yields an event called the Fall Festival Weekend.

Fall Festival Weekend is a collection of events that kick off on October 16^th and run through October 18^th.  The Waterpark Capital of the world boasts offerings that range from family friendly events all the way to micro brew tastings and walks. They even have a Halloween themed 5k Walk/Run event.

It also serves as a great reminder that even though the summer season is behind us, our community is still very active and full of events to attend. Timbavati Wildlife Park is still open and running through the entire month of October as are many other attractions.

While you’re here for Fall Festival Weekend, swing by our park, take a train ride, feed the giraffe and spend some time with our animals.