Maybe you can't ask a mother to choose her favorite child, but you can ask a naturalist to choose a favorite animal!

Although we don't play favorites when it comes to caring for the animals that live at Charlotte Nature Museum, certain animals hold a unique appeal for our equally unique staff members.

Marvin Bouknight, director
I have been interested and excited about any and all wildlife as long as I remember. When I was 13 years old, I saw a film in school about owls and became fascinated by them and the ornithologists that were studying them. Knowing that I was interested in birds and owls, my mother picked up a cassette tape of Roger Tory Peterson's Audio Field Guide to Eastern Birds. From that cassette tape, I learned how to mimic an Eastern Screech Owl call. One night, I went to the woods near my house and tried my best to imitate an Eastern Screech Owl to see if I could get one to call back to me. Not only did I get a return call, but one actually flew in and sat in a tree overhead and stared down at me with bright yellow eyes! Needless to say, that's one of the inspirations that led me to be a naturalist and why the Eastern Screech Owl is near and dear to my heart.

Gail Lemiec, coordinator
Onyx is our silkie/rose comb chicken who free ranges in the Butterfly Pavilion. She is one of my favorite animals because she loves people and is actually really social. If no one is in the Butterfly Pavilion, she waits at the doors and watches for when she can greet people and welcome them. She does not like to be touched so much and often confuses fingers for food, but she does like to be near people. Additionally, she lays eggs for us to feed to the other animals here and she is great at eating unwanted bugs in the Museum. She is definitely a hard worker and a great addition to the Museum team!

Nikki Panos, naturalist
If you say opossum to the average person, they recoil and say "eww!" This may have been what drew me to opossums in the first place. I am drawn to love the unlovable. While many people think these animals are gross, opossums play an important role as scavengers and opportunity feeders and are actually quite clean. Also, opossums hold a few records that make them particularly unique and interesting. They are the only marsupial native to North America, complete with a vertically slit pouch. Mother opossums always give birth to an odd number of babies as they have an odd number of nipples to provide their young with much needed milk. Opossums also hold the record for the largest number of teeth of any land mammal: 50 pointy teeth in all! To top it off, I personally find the opossum to be an extremely cute creature.

Post a comment below to tell us about your favorite animal at the Museum.