Skip to main content

A Spring Guide to Campus Wildlife

Find all sorts of insects and animals crawling and flying at Duke

Across campus, birds are chirping, the sun is shining bright and plants are showing green again. Spring has arrived. 

During this time of seasonal renewal, animals big and small are once again showing the diversity of life that can be found outside of residence halls and classrooms. 

Read More

“If you look close, there are 100s of tiny stories to be told,” said Fred Nijhout, the John Franklin Crowell Professor of Biology and a specialist in studying insects. “For most of these insects and animals, they’re just trying to get out of the cold like us.”

Curious what kind of wildlife you can find at Duke this spring? Here are some places to start looking. 

Reclamation Pond

One of Duke’s largest sustainability projects saves Duke up to 100 million gallons of water annually and provides walkers and runners a place to exercise, but it also acts as a home to several animals in surrounding woods and in its water. 

After completing construction last spring, Duke stocked the pond with five varieties of fish: largemouth bass, bluegill, shellcracker, channel catfish and minnows. Facilities Management staff picked the fish based on native plants used in the water so both fish and plants like Virginia blue flag, swamp candle and pickelweed could coexist symbiotically.

“We’ve seen a pair of blue heron flying over the pond who like to come by for breakfast,” said Darin Smith, a Facilities Management project manager for systems engineering who oversees the pond. “They’ll fly into the pond and eat some of our minnows.”

Other animals you might spot at the pond include red-tailed hawks, North Carolina turtles and gray fox. 

Sarah P. Duke Gardens

Color brims from all corners of Duke’s historic gardens, home to beautiful flowers, plants and even moss. Visitors strolling through the 55 acres are likely to come across a variety of animals, too.

Each summer, koi and goldfish swim laps around tropical water lilies in the fish pool at the foot of the historic Terrace Gardens. Frogs can be spotted hopping around in the H.L. Blomquist Garden of Native Plants, where you can also spot more than 30 birds at a viewing shelter, but don’t forget about blue herons living in the W.L. Culberson Asiatic Arboretum.

In March, staff released a dozen new ducks and two swans into the Arboretum’s pond, which has a section dedicated as a bird sanctuary. Visitors can meet the animals at the water’s edge and feed birds with special waterfowl food made of soybeans, which is available for $1 a bag at the Terrace Shop. The waterfowl food also attracts catfish and snapping turtles, so be prepared for a large gathering.

Lemur Center

Any collection of wildlife at Duke wouldn’t be complete without the Duke Lemur Center, which houses about 250 lemurs representing 16 different species. Fittingly enough, the best lemurs to see in spring are lemurus infantidae – baby lemurs. 

Visitors to the center currently have the chance to see Francesca, a sifaka lemur infant that’s just over two months old.

“Francesca is still clinging to mom Pompeia, but as the weeks progress, visitors can watch her as she learns to leap, climb and play with her big sister, Isabella,” said Chris Smith, education manager at the Lemur Center.

The spring is especially fun for black and white ruffed lemurs, because their white fur turns a greenish-yellow hue with pollen in the air. Smith said the ruffed lemurs roll around in pollen on the ground, then pop up and appear totally green.

Duke employees receive a discount on tours at the center. All-outdoor tours begin in late April, and “Walking with Lemurs” tours, which take visitors into enclosures, begin May 1.

Need a ride to the Lemur Center? Find out how to get to the popular Duke attraction for free.

Under Your Feet

Students and employees may think of green inchworms as Duke’s most common insect this time of year, but the tiny worms dangling from tree branches are just one of many of bugs that can be found.

Nijhout, the professor of biology, noted that flower-filled locations on campus offer great locations to find pollinators like the cloudless sulphur or buckeye butterflies as well as bees. The Al Buehler Trail also offers a good spot with its tree-covered paths that wind inside Duke Forest. It’s just a matter of keeping your eyes peeled and you might find lacewings, rhinoceros beetles or a handsome meadow katydid, a member of the cricket family.

“One of the most remarkable things I hear from students is that once they start looking, they see insects are everywhere,” he said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of if you let them crawl on you. The vast majority of insects, except for a few bees and wasps, couldn’t hurt you if they tried and most aren’t interested in trying.”

Photos courtesy of Orla Swift, Duke Lemur Center and Fred Nijhout.