It’s a little thing.
But seeing one would be a very big deal to me.
I want to see a long-tailed weasel.
I might have seen one in 1998 when crossing over Adams Bayou near my home in Orange County. It was at night and this little creature crossed the road. At first it looked like a mink but the color wasn’t quite right and it didn’t quite look as bulky as the mink I was used to seeing in the area.
Still, I can’t call that a sighting.
I want to see one and know that I saw it.
I have a spot where I see mink about every third trip. Some of them are quite large and aren’t very spooked by human presence.
But these weasels are another issue.
I am in the process of seeking out reports in the Orange, Newton and Jefferson County areas of Southeast Texas. If you have a sighting or game camera photo please emailed chester@kingdomzoo.com.
I want to stake out an an area and try to lure one out with a predator call for photos and also set up a game camera for photos. I have one potential spot mapped out near where I had my “possible” sighting nearly twenty years ago.
It is perfect habitat and there has been some possible depredation on poultry.
It easy to get caught up with the bigger and more widely known animals but I like the little shy guys too.
Makes sense for someone who operates “micro zoo”, doesn’t it?
Looking forward to seeking out some weasels. At the very least it should be challenging.
Chester Moore, Jr.
Tag Archives: kingdom zoo
Playing Jim Fowler
Growing up I always thought television talk shows were boring.
Johnny Carson made me laugh when I talked my parents into letting me stay up late enough to watch but his guests did not impress me as a youngster.
That is unless that guest was Jim Fowler.
Fowler, the co-host of my favorite television program growing up “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” was a frequent guest on “The Tonight Show” and brought wildlife to the masses for decades via his relationship with Carson.
As I walked onto a stage in front of 3,000 kids at the Global VBS at Cornerstone Church last summer, I felt like I was getting to play Jim Fowler.
The program is called “Cheeto Talk” and it is a late night television talk style show but hosted by a puppet operated by my friend Pastor Brett Own of San Antonio, TX.
During the course of an hour we brought out all kinds of animals for Cheeto to interact with and we had an absolutely great time.
From “Reverend Sweets” one of the guests almost having a legitimate panic attack over our rosehair tarantula to the kids collective “awww” when they saw our short tail opossum it was tons of fun.
The highlight for me was having the Kingdom Zoo kids bring out the animals and interacting with the crowd.
During the last segment Rachel brought out “Rowdy” our coatimundi who was only 10 weeks old at the time. He behaved well in front of the huge crowd and commanded their attention.
At the end Pastor Owen asked me to close in prayer and at this point “Rowdy” climbed on top of my head.
Not that there is much competition in this category but I have a feeling I hold the record for the only prayer with a coatimundi on one’s head while leading a prayer.
And I got to play Jim Fowler for an hour. I hope the performance would make him proud.
Click here to watch Cheeto Talk with special guest Chester Moore.
Chester Moore, Jr.