You found the Secret Turtle!


The upside-down turtle began when former Volunteer Coordinator, Jim Tranchida, drew one on the staff white board with a talk bubble sighing "I expire". It has since appeared as an inside joke, saying things like "BLARK".

The turtle was affectionately added to the July 2007 issue of the Carnivore Chronicles as a closing "easter egg" (computer-speak for a "secret door" put in by programmers) by staffer Amanda Byrne. The webpage now serves as Amanda's "Staff Insider" feature- which you were lucky enough to have found!

January/February 2008

The past 2 months have kept CPT very busy. The holiday season is fast paced at CPT with the mail campaign, volunteers bringing their out-of-town friends and relatives to visit, and this season was the busiest yet as CPT was asked to join the Pittsboro Christmas parade. Staffer Amanda Byrne designed the float, Volunteer Anita Letkemann and Curator Kathryn Bertok created the animal forms, and numerous staff and volunteers painted the animals.

The animals were the highlights of the float, but few could guess that there is a bowling pin inside the leopard (it had previously been a tiger's toy). The leopard also acquired the nickname "Tippy" for her tendency to roll- she was a little on the hefty side. Whiskers were created by heavy fishing line, and the tufts on the caracal's ears were authentic CPT buzzard feathers!


This past month the staff also had to say goodbye to CPT's two senior keepers: Sarah O'Connor and Michelle Redman. Sarah will be completing her education to teach Biology and has already begun teaching in Siler City. Michelle is moving to Boston. The following pictures share some of their memories at CPT.

Group photo at 2005 Fall Festival	Michelle and Sarah visit with Kyle Berner
Keepers Sarah and Christine on the day the cubs arrived.	Sarah, Christine, and Kathryn on the day the cubs arrived.
The Department of Wildlife brought a different type of meat for the tigers (beaver?).	Due to his grumpy reputation, CPT took extra precautions for the arrival of Vincent

November 2007

In the most recent issue of Carnivore Chronicles, you were informed of the generous technology donation project with IBM and Cisco Systems. IT Administrator, Amanda Byrne, has internally dubbed this project "Cybertooth".

September 2007

It has been a busy couple of months at CPT! One of the most exciting bits of news is the pending arrival of Vincent (Vince) tiger. Vince was acquired from the now-closed Faircloth Zoo in Bolivia, NC.

Article on the Faircloth Zoo

The inside scoop on Vince is how he came by the name. Vince was known as "Tony" at Faircloth, and once it was decided he would be joining CPT, staff voiced that "Tony the Tiger" was totally unacceptable - reminiscent of a cartoon-sugary-cereal character roaring "Grrrr- eat!". (a similar situation occured with Tex Tiger, whose name was "Tigger" when he was rescued by the Houston SPCA.)

So what was the source for the name "Vincent"? CPT's animals acquire their names from various sources: they are named after volunteers, named by the volunteers that found them when they were born (ex. Santana), came with suitable names, and in the case of Rajah and Kaela- were named with an online contest. For "Tony the Tiger", CPT staff bounced name ideas off each other. Candidates included "Teague", "Oscar", "Winston". The name "Vincent" was inspired yet again, albeit indirectly, by former Volunteer Coordinator, Jim Tranchida, whose middle name is Vincent. The name seemed suitable, and it was the first name that created staff concensus.

Incidently, another "name history" story of interest is Rajaji. "Raj" came to CPT already bearing the name "Rajah", and shockingly enough, CPT already had a "Rajah" (I think it's the "Shamu" of tiger-names). CPT Volunteer Maya Barton suggested adding the "ji" in the Indian tradition to indicate "Rajah the Elder". Thus, Rajaji acquired a modified name. I've heard that in his brief stint at NC Zoo's quarantine, he was called "Roger".

Other CPT name histories you may find of interest:

• Tex, formerly "Tigger".
• Wild Bill (1986-2007) is short for "Wild Bill Kelso". Origin Unknown.
• Shalimar (1992-2007) was apparently once known as "Vicky"- research suggests this was her name before arrival to CPT
• Comet (1993-2007) has also been knwon as "Wyoming".
• Skylar (1996-2007) may have once been known as "Wompy"- origin unknown.
• Savage caracal's name has posed some question, because CPT insiders know this name is totally undeserved. Savage was a very feisty kitten that would steal food from older kittens and shove them aside for attention; however, Savage has always been affectionate towards humans.
• Coda, aka "Jolly". Origin unknown.

If you know any interesting stories behind the names of CPT animals, feel free to pass on to me by email.