Swamp


 * Melody's Swamp Project**
 * A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water.
 * Generally a swamp has a large number of dry-land protrusions that are covered by aquatic vegetation—vegetation that tolerates periodical floods.
 * Swamps are found throughout the world and exist in areas with poor drainage and sufficient water supply to keep the ground waterlogged. They also have a high supply of minerals in the water which stimulates decay of organisms and prevents the accumulation of organic materials.
 * There are two main types of swamps: “true swamps”, also known as swamp forests, and “transitional swamps”, also known as shrub swamps.
 * The water of a swamp may be fresh water, brackish water, or seawater.
 * A common feature of swamps is water stagnation—the flow of water through the wetlands is slow because of low gradients and retarding effect of the vegetation. Dead plant matter settles rather than being washed away. Because of the slow replacement and lack of turbulence in the water, there is a low rate of oxygen supply in the water. In turn, decay of dead vegetation quickly uses up what oxygen is supplied so that mud and bottom water are low or lacking oxygen. Under these conditions, the decay of organic matter is incomplete; this causes an accumulation of humates and tannins in the bottom waters. The result of stagnant water is the familiar swamp water which varies in color from yellow to deep brown.
 * Swamp vegetation varies with climate—grasses, rushes, and sphagnum moss predominate in temperate climates. Cypress and mangrove trees predominate in more tropical regions.
 * Because the park desires a diverse population of species to represent the Animal Kingdom, I suggest that we choose to design the exhibit with both a true swamp area and a transitional swamp area so that more species can be accommodated.


 * Phylum Chordata:**
 * I chose the phylum chordata because a lot of common swamp animals are under this phylum. People visiting the zoo’s swamp exhibit will surely want to see some of characteristic animals found in a swamp. Such animals may include alligators, opossums, or Great Blue Herons—all of which are chordates.
 * Class Reptilia:**
 * The class Reptilia presented a wide variety of swamp creatures within its realm to choose from.


 * American Alligator:**
 * Phylum:** Chordata
 * Class:** Reptilia
 * Scientific Name:** //Alligator mississippiensis//
 * American Alligators are mostly found in the Southeastern United States, from the Great Dismal Swamp in North Carolina south to the Everglades National Park in Florida and west to the southern tip of Texas.
 * [[image:map-american-alligator.jpg width="329" height="210"]]


 * Although primarily freshwater animals, American Alligators will occasionally venture to brackish waters (water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater), but can only tolerate salt water for brief periods because they do not have salt glands.
 * **Habitat:** They can be found in all available aquatic habitats from marshes and swamps to rivers, lakes, tidal areas, and on rare occasions, the ocean. Alligators live singly in dens in river or lake banks. In marshes, they hollow out large “gator holes” for their dens. All alligators bask in the sun.
 * **Diet in the wild:** Alligators are carnivorous. They have very strong jaws that can crack a turtle shell, enabling them to eat a variety of animals—fish, snails, dogs, birds, turtles, deer, opossums, other alligators (if they are small enough to overtake)—their diet really depends on what is available.
 * **Zoo diet:** at certain zoos, alligators are usually fed rats, but occasionally they are fed chickens and rabbits. When feeding gators animals, only feed them pre-killed ones. There are other gator facilities that feed them crocodilian pellets or other commercial alligator food—these foods usually consist of chicken and other animal by-products.
 * It is fitting to place the American Alligator in a swamp environment because they thrive well in swamp habitats.
 * Moreover, their life spans are long, making them a worth-while investment for the zoo:
 * **Life span** **in wild:** 30-45 years
 * **Life span in captivity:** 50-80 years, possibly longer
 * **Temperatures:** overall temperature should be between 83-85 degrees Fahrenheit with a basking temperature of 94-97 degrees Fahrenheit. Gators prefer warmer water, so a water temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit would be ideal.
 * **Lighting:** It’s imperative to keep a specific schedule for lighting the enclosure—depending on the season, gators require specific durations of light. These are roughly:
 * **Spring:** 12 hours
 * **Summer:** 14 hours
 * **Fall:** 10 hours
 * **Winter:** 8 hours
 * The use of UVB and UVA lights is necessary—they should be placed above the land mass to provide the best possible basking area. And although gators typically hunt at night and sleep during the day, it’s not uncommon to have an active gator when the sun is up. However, lighting the enclosure at night posts a possibility of disturbing the natural instincts/cycle of the gator and could possible make it ill.
 * **Living enclosure:** an enclosure for an alligator needs to have dry land and water. Juveniles can start in a small enclosure, but a 55-gallon tank is recommended. For adults, the land part of the enclosure should be at least 1.5 times the total length of the alligator, and at least as wide as its length. At minimum, the water area should be at least 3 times as long, 3 times as wide, and 1.5 times as deep as the alligator’s total length. I recommend having at least two gators in the exhibit. One is kind of lonely/boring looking; two is probably plenty. The water can be salt or fresh, but it’s probably easier to just have fresh water and not have to mess with salt concentration levels.
 * **Care and maintenance:** Gators make quite a mess—land mass will require just as much cleaning as the water, and cleaning them separately is not recommended: water changes and land mass cleaning should be done in the same day. Alligator habitats should be cleaned at least once every two days. A good water-filtration system is also a must.
 * Alligators also eat copious amounts of food—a large adult American alligator’s weight and length is 800 pounds and 13 feet long, but can grow to 14.5 feet and weight over 1,000 pounds.
 * ** Feeding frequency: ** typically hatchling and young crocodilians that are spending energy on rapid growth will benefit from daily or at least every other day feedings. This will generally result in four or more feedings per week. Since the items being fed are small the crocodilian can ingest food with a greater frequency. As the animal matures and food item size increases digestion may take longer ad the frequency of feedings may be reduced.
 * **Behavior:** alligators are aggressive; care and handling can be difficult.
 * **Reason why I picked the American Alligator:** alligators are very popular at the zoo and the American Alligator is a classic North American Swamp animal that I feel is a necessary element to the exhibit. Also, the American Alligator is the biggest reptile in North America, and one of the biggest in the world: this fact alone makes them quite an attraction. They are a challenge to care for, but are highly worth it.


 * Red-bellied Black Snake:**
 * Phylum:** Chordata
 * Class:** Reptilia
 * Scientific Name:** //Pseudechis porphyriacus//
 * The Red-bellied Black Snake is a venomous native to eastern Australia and is one of Australia’s best-known snakes, making it quite a rarity for a Nebraskan Zoo—which would hopefully be appealing to those who seek diversity in a zoo.
 * They often are misidentified if the belly is not visible—with a pure black back, the underbelly of this snake is cream to pink in color, with the lateral edges being a bright crimson red in color.
 * With specimens growing up to 2.5 meters in length (about eight feet), they are one of Australia’s largest venomous snakes.
 * Although its venom can cause significant morbidity, it’s generally not fatal and is less venomous than other deadly Australian snakes.
 * **Habitat:** It commonly lives in woodlands, forests, and swamplands. It enjoys living around watercourses and marshy grounds because its favorite food, frog, is found in these areas.
 * **Behavior:** not generally an aggressive species. However, when provoked, it will recoil into its striking stance as a threat, but will try to escape at the first opportunity. It is also most active by day. These two characteristics make it a great choice for the swamp exhibit: because it’s not generally aggressive, the care will be easier. Also, because it is most active by day, visitors will be able to see it better than a nocturnal species.
 * When not hunting or basking in sun, it may be found beneath timber, rocks and rubbish, or down holes and burrows.
 * **Living enclosure:** a living space would be relatively simple to obtain—the minimum size of enclosure per one Red-bellied Black Snake is 2.5m x 2.5m x 2.5m. They need enough room to move around normally. Also provide branches for climbing, vegetation and hide areas. These snakes tend to be lazy as well, preferring to bask instead of move around—a sun light would be needed. Sand or mulch type flooring makes good a substrate.
 * **Temperature, Lighting, and Humidity:** Cooler temperatures are a must for this snake. Keep the daytime lights on for 12 hours, and the temperature around 79-85 degrees Fahrenheit. At night, drop the temperature to around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a ceramic heat emitter at night to maintain the temperature. The humidity level should remain around 40% at all times.
 * **Care and maintenance:** Daily upkeep and care would be reasonably easy—changing water, cleaning out waste, and making sure food is supplied on about a weekly basis. I recommend one snake because they do grow to be quite large—up to eight feet long.
 * **Reproduction:** Red-bellied Black Snakes are ovoviviparous; that is, they give birth to live young in individual membranous sacs. This is an interesting fact that might interest spectators.
 * **Diet:** feeds on mainly frogs. In the wild, this would make up three quarters of their diet. Other than that, anything the snake can get its mouth around, it will eat. Rats, mice, and lizards can be fed to this snake. Like most snakes, a water dish should always be kept in the habitat and changed daily.
 * **Reason why I picked the Red-bellied Black Snake:** it would be a good addition to the Swamp exhibit because it’s a unique snake not native to the United States, which helps to fulfill the overall diversity we want to promote in the zoo. Also, because of its non-aggressive temperament, it would be easier to care for. And in the incident of a zoo keeper being bit, if treated, it would not be life-threatening. Furthermore, the diet of the snake is easily obtainable: primarily frogs, as well as rats and mice.
 * Class Mammalia:**
 * There is quite a multitude of swamp animals to choose from within the Mammalia class.
 * Capybara:**
 * Phylum:** Chordata
 * Class:** Mammalia
 * Scientific Name:** //Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris//
 * The capybara is the world’s largest rodent—they are a rather unique animal and would add diversity to the swamp exhibit.
 * They weight 60-140 pounds and are about two feet tall at the shoulder, and are 48-52 inches long.
 * Capybaras are native to South America
 * **Range and Habitat:** The capybara is found throughout South America and is a semi-aquatic mammal. They frequent dense vegetation surrounding lakes, rivers, swamps, marshes, and ponds. They also share their habitat with many other animals, like water birds, huge water snakes called anacondas, marsh deer, giant otters, anteaters, parrots, jaguars, and caimans.
 * Capybaras spend about 85% of their lives in water. They mate in the water, and use it to escape and to conceal themselves from predators.
 * **Diet:** the capybara is a grazing herbivore, eating mainly grasses and aquatic plants, grains, and fruit. They also like to gnaw on hard things like wood and nuts—they have very hard teeth that grow bigger that get worn down every day. They make little beds in shallow parts of dirt—they don’t dig burrows.
 * Like its cousin the guinea pig, the capybara doesn’t have the capacity to synthesize vitamin C. If capybaras are not supplemented with vitamin C in captivity, they are a high risk for developing gum disease as a sign of scurvy. Therefore, vitamin C supplements in their diet are essential.
 * **Behavior:** They are highly social and live in groups controlled by a dominant male, typically in groups of 10-30 animals.
 * **Fun Fact:** Capybara dive and may remain underwater for as long as five minutes—if put in an indoor tank that visitors could see through like the otter exhibit at the Omaha zoo, I think visitors, especially kids would enjoy seeing them swim and go underwater.
 * **Lifespan:** up to 15 years in captivity
 * **Living enclosure:** include a sizeable tank of water—a group of several capybaras will be needed to fulfill the species’ social needs. Also a large section of dry land will be needed for romping room, their shallow dirt beds, and a few little dens made of rocky material where they can rest. I recommend that the exhibit house at least seven since they are very social creatures. Ten would probably be optimal.
 * **Care and maintenance:** their enclosure should be cleaned daily. They should be fed about twice a day. Their aquarium needs to be cleaned regularly, but depends on the size of the aquarium and how many capybaras are living in the exhibit.
 * **Reason why I picked the Capybara:** they are fairly unique in a zoo setting and would serve as a novelty animal at our zoo. Also, care and handling should be average in difficulty. They are not usually aggressive unless provoked when feeding.
 * Virginia Opossum:**
 * Phylum:** Chordata
 * Class:** Mammalia
 * Scientific Name:** //Didelphis virginiana//
 * Virginia Opossums, commonly known as the North American opossum, is the only marsupial in North America north of Mexico.
 * They are nocturnal and are about the size of a large cat.
 * Opossums are very good climbers—this will need to be considered when making their exhibit.
 * Opossums are also able swimmers.
 * **Range:** Costa Rica north through Mexico to the central and eastern half of the United States and into southeastern Canada. After being introduced in 1890, populations have established in California and along the West Coast.
 * **Habitat:** Very adaptable—able to live wherever food, water, and shelter exist. They commonly live in thick forests, open woods, brushy wastelands, marshes, and farms. It tends to prefer wet areas like marshes, swamps, and streams. They like to live in hollow trees and logs; they will also den in woodpiles, rock piles, crevices in cliffs, under buildings, and in underground burrows. Since they are not adept at digging burrows for themselves, they usually make use of abandoned dens of other animals.
 * **Size:** They are typically 15-20 inches long and 9-13 pounds in weight. Tail length is about 15 inches.
 * **Diet:** they are omnivores and will eat a wide variety of plants and animals such as fruits, grasses, leaves, insects, rodents, other small animals, and carrion.
 * **Zoo diet:** apples, bananas, fish and rabbit parts
 * Contrary to popular belief, Virginia opossums are extremely unlikely to acquire rabies because their extremely low body temperature does not allow the virus to survive.
 * They have 50 very sharp teeth, more than any land mammal.
 * **Lifespan:** typically 2-4 years—they are one of the shortest lived mammals for their size
 * **Behavior:** They’re solitary animals and only get together during the breeding season. The opossum’s metabolism and body temperature are significantly slower than placental mammals of the same size. They are slow-moving compared with other mammals of a similar size—they can run at about 4 miles per hour, equivalent to a fast walk for a human. Opossums know this isn’t fast enough to save them from most predators, so typically they head for safety. They might crawl into a den, scale a tree (they’re experts at this), or drop “dead”. They are well-known for feigning death, or ‘playing possum’. And although it seems they are acting, they really aren’t. It’s apparently an involuntary, stress-induced nervous collapse. They will also sometimes hiss or growl, and bare their teeth when frightened or threatened. Overall, possums are placid animals that always try to avoid confrontation—but, like all wild animals they can be aggressive if they have no other options.
 * **Living enclosure:** since possums are solitary animals, a medium-sized enclosure with two or three possums should be sufficient; plenty of space should be ensured for each animal. Also, a small pond, some hollowed out trees/logs (for climbing and lodging purposes), and some swamp brush should be included in the enclosure.
 * **Care and maintenance:** leave food out at all times—opossums won’t overeat, and keeping an ample supply of food around will make sure they don’t get hungry or malnourished. An abundant supply of clean water should be kept in a dish and changed daily. The living enclosure’s pond should be cleaned regularly according to its size, how many animals are living in the exhibit, and the filtration system being used. Animal waste should be cleaned out daily.
 * **Reason why I picked the Virginia Opossum:** possums are unique in that they are the only the marsupials in North America; this fact about them makes them a nice contribution to the diversity we are trying to promote. Also, possums are somewhat low maintenance and because they are not usually aggressive should prove to be easy to care for.
 * Class Aves:**
 * Birds serve as a complementary animal to the exhibit and are fairly easy to obtain.


 * American Flamingo:**
 * Phylum:** Chordata
 * Class:** Aves
 * Scientific Name:** //Phoenicopterus ruber//
 * They are very colorful with a bright pink tone to their feathers—carotenoids found in the foods they eat are what are responsible for the pink color. If they did not consume carotenoid-containing food, they would be white. Because their color depends on their diet, the exact shade of a flock will differ from other flocks that have a different diet.
 * **Habitat:** they live in regions where you will find warmer temperatures. This includes the Galápagos’ Islands, Yucatan, the Caribbean, and the West Indies. They look for shallow water that has salt in it but not very much acid—shallow, salty lagoons, marshes, and lakes are ideal. They also need an area that offers plenty of mud such as small lakes with marshy area surrounding it because they use the mud for nesting.
 * **Diet in wild:** they eat a variety of food but mainly meat. This includes crustaceans of various sizes. They also consume plants with the main type of it being algae. It really isn’t known how much food they consume daily due to the fact that they break up their food into segments throughout the day.
 * **Diet at zoo:** they mainly feed on shrimp—they are usually fed shrimp because it maintains their deep pink color, which is usually preferred by spectators over light pink. Lake/water vegetation is also part of their diet.
 * **Feeding process:** they have a very specialized feeding process. They spend most of the day standing in shallow water with their heads down filtering the water through the sieve-like lamellae of their beaks (lamella is a thin, plate-like structure, comb). The flamingo’s think fleshy tongue acts as a plunger to suck the water and food into the mouth, and forces just the water back out. The lump of food is drawn into the back of the mouth to be swallowed at the same time the next mouthful of water is drawn in.
 * **Behavior:** They are a very social bird, but often spend a great deal of time squabbling with each other. The pecking skirmishes rarely cause damage or harm. Also, they will not nest unless there are a number of flamingos nearby. There group sizes range from a couple pairs to sometimes thousands or tens of thousands. Because of this, I recommend about twenty, depending on space availability and actual cost.
 * **Living enclosure:** it would be nice to have both an indoor enclosure for the colder months and an outdoor enclosure for warmer months. Both enclosures would need to include a marshy/lake area and a dry land mass. Trees and marsh grasses should also be included.
 * They can fly, but flight is labored and awkward. Also, they don’t usually fly away at zoos because their basic needs are met.
 * Living enclosure:
 * **Lifespan:** up to 60 years in captivity
 * **Average Size:**
 * **Male**—length: 40-48 inches, weight: 8 pounds
 * **Female**—length: 40-48 inches, weight: 6 pounds
 * **Wingspan:** 5 feet
 * **Care and maintenance:** flamingo pond should be stocked with an ample amount of live shrimp, allowing them access to food whenever they need it. Daily the dry land mass will have to be tidied, and the pond will also have to be periodically cleaned.
 * **Reason why I picked the American Flamingo:** First of all, flamingos easily fit into the swamp habitat. Additionally flamingos are a nice visual for the swamp—bright pink in color, they really add an extra element of diversity to the swamp exhibit as a whole. Also, they should be fairly easy to please/care for, which is a plus since some animals are harder to care for than others. Choosing variety not only adds visually, it also helps balance out the level of maintenance and upkeep the zoo is responsible for overall.
 * Great Blue Heron:**
 * Phylum:** Chordata
 * Class:** Aves
 * Scientific Name:** //Ardea herodias//
 * It’s the largest heron in North America
 * Feathers turn brighter in mating season and dingier in winter
 * **Habitat:** they can be found in a range of habitats—both fresh and saltwater marshes, mangrove swamps, flooded meadows, lake edges, and shorelines, but always close to bodies of water, usually nesting in trees or bushes.
 * **Range:** found throughout most of North America; the range extends south through Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean to South America and can be found north as far as Alaska. They are found year-round throughout the Pacific Northwest, except for the arid grasslands and interior forests.
 * **Lifespan:** about 15 years
 * **Diet:** their diet is primarily composed of small fish, although they are known for opportunistically feeding on shrimp, crabs, aquatic insects, rodents, and other small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and small birds. They locate their food by sight and swallow it whole. They have been known to choke on prey too large—the zoo will have to provide small enough fish so that they aren’t in danger of choking.
 * **Zoo diet:** Great Blue herons most easily adapt to eating a variety of live or frozen whole fish from salt or fresh water. Obtain small whole fish such as a thread herring, capelin, and smelt—captive herring usually accept these. They should be fed 10-15 fish twice daily. However, a long-term diet of frozen fish may cause a thiamine deficiency, which can be remedied with vitamin supplements or non-frozen foods. For example, the Hamilton Zoo in New Zealand offers its large herons a smaller amount of frozen fish along with a “heron mix” of minced horsemeat, trout pellets, and chick starter crumble, plus vitamins daily.
 * **Behavior:** they are solitary feeders and live alone for most of the year, but they nest in groups when it’s mating season. Because of this, I recommend one or two Great Blue Herons for the exhibit.
 * **Size:** these birds are about 4 feet tall and have a wingspan of 6 feet—with this in mind, the enclose should definitely be large enough to give the animal(s) room to move about freely.
 * **Living enclosure:** like all the other swamp animals, water will need to be included in its living domain. Since I wanted to represent both true swamps and transitional swamps, I think that a transitional swamp, which is comparable to a marsh, should be its living setting. So with that in mind, some marsh grasses and small swamp shrubbery should be included in the exhibit. A dry land mass is also a must.
 * **Care and maintenance:** the dry land mass should be tidied daily and the birds should be fed twice daily.
 * **Reason why I picked the Great Blue Heron:** like some of the other animal selections I have made for the swamp exhibit, I wanted to include some classic swamp animals—the Great Blue Heron is one. Also, the Great Blue Heron should be rather low maintenance, which is always nice.
 * Phyla Arthropoda:**
 * I chose the phylum Arthropoda because not only are there familiar swamp animals under the phylum, there are some pretty unique creatures that aren’t commonly known—this is where diversity can really come into play. I think it adds some interest to the exhibit by offering animals that aren’t normally heard of or seen in the swamp, yet inhabit the swamp nonetheless.


 * Class Crustacea:**
 * The typical red swamp crawfish and red-clawed crab are included in the crustacean class. These are two swamp favorites which I chose—thus it was befitting to select the class Crustacea; spectators will be able to see both exotic and common animals.
 * Red Swamp Crawfish:**
 * Phylum:** Arthropoda
 * Class:** Crustacea
 * Scientific Name:** //Procambarus clarkii//
 * Also known as swamp crawfish, red swamp crayfish, Louisiana crawfish, Louisiana crayfish, or mudbug.
 * It’s a freshwater crawfish species, native to the Southeastern United States, but found also on other continents where it’s often an invasive pest.
 * **Range:** Its native range is along the Gulf Coast from northern Mexico to the Florida panhandle, as well as inland, to southern Illinois and Ohio. It has also been introduced outside its natural range to countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and elsewhere in the Americas.
 * **Lifespan:** 2-5 years
 * **Habitat:** most commonly found in warm fresh water, such as slowly-flowing rivers, marshes, reservoirs, irrigations systems, and rice paddies.
 * **Size:** can reach nearly 5 inches long
 * **Tank Size:** minimum tank size is a 20 gallon tank per crawfish
 * **Water pH**: 7.5-8.0
 * **Temperature:** 66.2-77 degrees Fahrenheit
 * **Diet and feeding:** it’s omnivorous and will eat almost anything it can gets its claws on—from sinking food pellets, soft vegetation, detritus, and co-inhabitants. It can also eat bloodworms and frozen algae. Do not feed shrimp to this species of crayfish. Feed once or twice daily.
 * **Behavior:** it’s an aggressive species that will harass the other inhabitants of the aquarium. Thus the crayfish should be given a lot of room with an adequate amount of hiding places. These crayfish are cannibalistic—I recommend only one and it should be kept separate from other animals.
 * **Reason why I picked the Red Swamp Crawfish:** it’s a classic swamp creature and will also add some variety as it will need its own aquarium. This will be different from the other chordates and aves. Additionally, its care and maintenance is easy and not costly.
 * Red-clawed crab:**
 * Phylum:** Arthropoda
 * Class:** Crustacea
 * Scientific Name:** //Perisesarma bidens//
 * **Range:** This species of crab is found in the Indo-Pacific region from Zanzibar to Japan and Fiji. It’s a native of Asia.
 * **Tank Size:** minimum tank is 10 gallon tank
 * **Habitat and tank requirements:** lives both in the water and on land throughout its life—as with other crabs, it’s imperative the red-clawed crab is given dry land to climb on and be able to breathe air. There are special underwater islands domes that offer dry land and fresh air underwater. An exposed land mass incorporated with the aquarium would also be okay.
 * **Size:** 2-4 inches
 * Water pH needs to be from 7.5-8.5
 * **Temperature:** 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit
 * **Lifespan:** 2-3 years
 * **Diet:** it’s an omnivorous crab that will take in most foods including blanched vegetable, flakes and pellets, brine shrimp, bloodworms, and fish.
 * **Feeding:** feed once or twice daily—shrimp pellets, brine shrimp, bloodworms, and live crickets are good food sources.
 * Males are more brightly colored than females
 * **Behavior:** they are very good escape artists and will take advantage of any opportunity to escape from the aquarium they are kept in. They can easily climb up airline tubing and filter tubes, so a tight fitting lid is essential. They can be kept with fish, but it’s not a good idea—they will catch and eat small fish if given the opportunity. Additionally, there behavior towards their own kind is aggressive—they will rip claws and legs off until dead. I recommend one male red-clawed crab kept with a couple middle or top fish in tank (to avoid any pinching, though none usually occurs). Some fish in the tank will make the exhibit more like it is in nature.
 * **Reason why I picked the Red-clawed Crab:** again, crabs are classic swamp creatures. Moreover, the red-clawed crab is native to Asia, which adds to richness of diversity in the exhibit. Maintenance and care will also be minimal.
 * Class Insecta:**
 * I chose the class Insecta because it offered a wide array of animals to choose from—numerous species of insects exist.
 * Seven-spotted Ladybug Beetle:**
 * Phylum:** Arthropoda
 * Class:** Insecta
 * Scientific Name:** //Coccinella septempunctata//
 * **Range:** broad ecological range—almost anywhere aphids, their food source, exist.
 * **Lifespan:** 1 year
 * During their life, they can devour more than 5,000 aphids.
 * **Habitat and Food:** these insects can live pretty much anywhere as long as there are plants and something to eat, such as aphids and other small insects.
 * **Living enclosure:** a small plexiglass enclosure should suffice—living plants with ample supplies of aphids should be provided. Since they are rather small, I recommend including several in the exhibit.
 * **Care and maintenance:** keep foliage in its enclosure moist so that it can obtain water—this is a swamp setting, so the enclosure should naturally have high humidity content. Make sure plants are healthy and that there are enough aphids and plant mites to sustain the ladybug population. Plants should be water every other day and exhibit tidied when plants are watered.
 * **Reason why I picked the Seven-spotted Ladybug Beetle:** ladybugs act as a neutralizer species—they are not exotic and help to keep the overall exhibit balanced; too many exotic animals may seem overwhelming. It’s nice to see both never-before-seen and more common animals.
 * Green Darner:**
 * Phylum:** Arthropoda
 * Class:** Insecta
 * Scientific Name:** //Anax junius//
 * Got its common name from its appearance—it looks like a darning needle (darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric).
 * One of the biggest dragonflies species
 * **Habitat:** muddy-bottomed, slow-moving, or still freshwater; ponds, streams, wetlands, especially those without fish. They may perch in grass or hanging vegetation well away from water.
 * **Range:** they’re found throughout North and South America, the West Indies and Asia.
 * **Diet:** Green Darner nymphs (the larval stage that lives in the water) feed primarily on aquatic insects, fish eggs, and tadpoles. Adults eat insects including bees, butterflies, mosquitoes, and moths.
 * **Lifespan:** after spending a few years as larvae, the emerging dragonflies only live around 4-7 weeks as adults.
 * **Seasonal Changes:** It’s often the first dragonfly species encountered in the spring and can still be seen in late fall. During cool weather, the abdomen may turn purple or green. Some groups of Green Darners migrate in the spring and fall, depending on the climate in which they live.
 * **Size:** the Green Darner is one of the largest dragonflies; it’s about 3 inches long, has a wingspan of 4 inches, and weighs approximately 0.04 ounces.
 * Enabled by their excellent flight capabilities and nearly 360-degree eyesight, dragonflies easily capture and kill prey larger than themselves. The Green Darner can fly at speeds exceeding 50 miles per hour!
 * **Similarities and difference between males and females:** they both have a bright green thorax, yellow-edged wings, and a bull’s eye pattern on the forehead. However, males’ long abdomen is blue with a dark stripe on top while females have a brown or purple abdomen that also has a dark dorsal stripe.
 * Dragonflies are not actually a fly even though they both have six legs and three body parts—a head, thorax, and abdomen. The main difference between them is that flies only have two wings, whereas dragonflies have four wings.
 * **Dragonfly reproduction:** a dragonfly undergoes incomplete metamorphosis. Females lay eggs in or near water, often on floating or emergent plants. After about two weeks, the eggs hatch and an immature dragonfly, or nymph, emerges. The nymphs live in water and as they grow, they molt. Nymphs of some species may take as long as three years to mature. Most of a dragonfly’s life is spent in the larval stage beneath the water’s surface.
 * We want the adult Green Darner’s for the exhibit.
 * **Living enclosure:** a plexiglass living enclosure a couple feet in length and width should be appropriate. Both a water source and land mass with swamp grasses will be needed.
 * **Care and maintenance:** make sure daily that there is an adequate amount of live insects for them to eat—also make sure that the insects are small enough so that they won’t have any problems—we don’t want any of the insects eating them. Clean out the water source occasionally. I recommend only one Green Darner at a time since they are able to eat their own kind.
 * **Reason why I picked the Green Darner:** the Green Darner is a common but pretty insect. Dragonflies are quite attractive and they do well in a swamp habitat.

Goliath bird-eater Spider:
 * Class Arachnida:**
 * I chose the class Arachnida because of the many species choices that it contains.
 * Phylum:** Arthropoda
 * Class:** Arachnida
 * Scientific Name:** //Theraphosa blondi//
 * It’s considered to be the second largest spider in the world (by leg-span it is second to the giant huntsman spider), and it may be the largest by mass.
 * They belong to the tarantula group, Theraphosidae.
 * It gets its name from reports of explorers from the Victoria era (the reign of Queen Victoria, which was from 1837 to 1901) who witnessed one eating a hummingbird.
 * **Habitat:** it’s native to the rain forest regions of northern South America. They are deep-burrowing spiders that are commonly found in marshy or swampy area. They usually live in burrows that have been abandoned by other burrowing creatures.
 * **Life cycle:** Females always mate, but sometimes may end up eating their mates. Females mature in 3 to 4 years and have an average life span of 15 to 25 years. Males die soon after maturity and have a lifespan of 3 to 6 years. Colors range from dark to light brown with faint markings on the legs. The female lays anywhere from 100-200 eggs, which hatch within two months.
 * **Diet:** despite its name, it doesn’t normally eat birds. As with other species of spider (specifically tarantula), their diet consists primarily of insects and other invertebrates. However, because of its naturally large size, it’s not uncommon for this species to kill and consume a variety of vertebrates—in the wild some larger species of tarantulas have been seen feeding on rodents, lizards, bats, and even deadly venomous snakes.
 * **Zoo diet:** In captivity, its staple diet should consist of cockroaches. Juveniles can be fed crickets or cockroaches that don’t exceed the body length of the individual. Feeding of mice is discouraged as such food contains excess amount of calcium which can be harmful or even fatal to a tarantula. It’s suggested that once or twice a month they get a mice feeding—only occasionally. It should be fed live prey. Requires fresh water daily. They will eat about 6-8 semi-large cockroaches per week.
 * They are nocturnal and do not travel more than a few feet from home, resting in their burrows during the day.
 * The Goliath bird-eating spider is a solitary arachnid, and only associates with other spiders of its species when mating or guarding its young—**only one should be put in the exhibit.**
 * They are considered to be very aggressive. Unlike other spider who are noiseless, the Goliath bird-eating spider can make a hissing noise to frighten off threats by rubbing bristles on its legs together. They will also rear up on their hind legs in a threat position.
 * **Venom:** considered fairly harmless to humans, as are most species of tarantulas. Like all tarantulas, they have fangs large enough to break the skin of a human (.75-1.5 inches). They do carry venom in their fangs and have been known to bite when threatened, but the venom is relatively harmless and its effects are comparable to those of a wasp’s sting. The venom works on the nervous system and paralyzes its smaller victims. They also have hairs on their abdomen that they can flick off to defend themselves—these microscopically barbed hairs can be irritating to the skin and lungs and will cause swelling for a few hours like a nettle rash. It’s most serious when the hairs get into your eyes or mouth. **Zookeepers beware—this spider should not be handled under any circumstances.**
 * **Living enclosure:** needs to be housed alone in at least a 30-gallon terrarium with deep, damp substrate (flooring)—peat moss or cypress mulch works well. A large shelter should be offered in the form of a cork bark “cave” or a half-buried clay pot. They are found in humid areas, but in captivity it’s best to maintain them on the dry side and spray them once or twice a week. A large diameter flat dish with fresh water should be available at all times.
 * **Temperature and humidity requirement:** 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit with a moderate humidity level.
 * **Cage care:** clean up any uneaten prey items the day after feeding as decaying organic matter commonly attracts mites, fungus, mold and other potentially harmful organisms. If spider has recently molted, remove uneaten prey items immediately—newly molted tarantulas are vulnerable until their exoskeletons harden.
 * **Reason why I picked the Goliath bird-eating spider:** they are one of the largest spiders in the world, which is pretty unique. Also, they have a curious name which might interest viewers.
 * Brown recluse:**
 * Phylum:** Arthropoda
 * Class:** Arachnida
 * Scientific Name:** //Theraphosa blondi//
 * **Distribution:** the brown recluse is native to the United States from the southern Midwest south to the Gulf of Mexico. The native range lies roughly south of a line from southeastern Nebraska through southern Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana to southwestern Ohio. In southern states, it’s native from central Texas to western Georgia and north to Kentucky. Despite rumors to the contrary, the brown recluse spider hasn’t established itself in California or anywhere outside its native range.
 * **Appearance:** the eight legs and violin marking appear on the flattened-like cephalothorax (combined area of head and thorax). Both male and female are similar in appearance and are equally toxic. The immature stages closely resemble the adults except for size and a slightly lighter color. They have uniformly colored legs and abdomens—any spider exhibiting more than one pigment on the legs or abdomen is not a brown recluse. They also have six eyes positioned in three pairs, and they’re second pair of legs are longer than the first pair.
 * These spiders love dark places out of the way, and true to their name, prefer to stay out of the way of people or other large predators.
 * They are often feared because their poison has been known to cause harm in humans for weeks or even months after the initial bite.
 * **Size:** has the body length that varies from .25 to .75 inch.
 * **Habitat:** caves, rodent burrows, and other protected environments—they’re often found in barns, woodpiles, basements, garages, behind boxes, and in old clothing.
 * **Life cycle:** adults often live about one to two years. Each female produces several egg sacs over a period of two to three months, from May to July, with approximately fifty eggs in each sac. The eggs hatch in about one month. The spiderlings take about one year to grow to adulthood. The brown recluse spider is resilient and can tolerate up to six months of extreme drought and scarcity or absence of food, most notably observed on one occasion to survive in controlled captivity for over five seasons without food.
 * These spiders usually have markings on the dorsal side of their cephalothorax, with a black line coming from it that looks like a violin with the neck of the violin pointing to the rear of the spider, resulting in the **nicknames fiddleback spider, brown fiddler, or violin spider.** Other spiders also have the violin marking on them, so this is not a reliable diagnostic pattern.
 * **Behavior:** when threatened, it usually flees, seemingly to avoid a conflict, and if detained may further avoid contact with quick horizontal rotating movement. The spider doesn’t usually jump unless touched abruptly. It spins a loose, irregular web, which it uses as a daytime retreat. Research suggests it’s mostly a scavenger, preferring to eat dead insects. It is largely nocturnal and leaves its hiding place at night to search for food.
 * **Diet:** crickets, cockroaches, and other soft-bodied creatures. **They prefer dead insects to live insects.**
 * They thrive in the cypress swamps and are one of the most well-known spiders around because of their powerful poison.
 * Cypress swamps are found in the southern United States and are named for the bald cypress trees that are abundant in the southern swamp regions.
 * **Bites:** the bite is not frequently initially felt and may not be immediately painful, but can be very serious. The brown recluse bears potentially deadly hemotoxic venom (venom that destroys red blood cells, disrupts blood clotting, and/or causes organ degeneration and generalized tissue damage. Most bites are minor with no necrosis (the death of most or all of the cells in an organ or tissue due to disease, injury, or failure of the blood supply). Obviously, extreme caution should be exercised when zoo keepers are working around them.
 * **Bite treatment:** first aid involves the application of an ice pack to control inflammation, the application of aloe vera to soothe and help control the pain, and prompt medical care.
 * **Living enclosure:** a small terrarium with a burrow space or cave structure should be suitable. Fresh water in a small, shallow dish should always be available. A dryer climate is best for spiders in captivity—a substrate of dirt would be appropriate.
 * **Reason why I picked the Brown Recluse Spider:** they are dangerous and rarely seen—those factors would make it a wonderfully intriguing exhibit.

http://prezi.com/spaehrkketgy/swamp-exhibit/?auth_key=1ba3c5099dfd826f38d6d4d7fcab7c9abb4c5adc
 * Prezi link:**