Bamboo Delivery to Turtle Back Zoo

September 2009

Monday, September 22nd

Turtle Back Zoo

Today, we made our second delivery to the Turtle Back Zoo in East Orange, New Jersey. The exhibit is nearing completion and looking very impressive.
	The bamboo was for the White-Handed Gibbon exhibit. There is an inside and outside habitat for the unique animals.
In the picture to the right you can see the little bridge connecting the inside and outside exhibit.
	Along with the Gibbon habitat, there was also bamboo habitats built for some Mutjac and Cranes. Up this trail, the Gibbons are on the left and the other animals are on the right.
Here is some of the bamboo that has already been installed at the Gibbons exhibit. You can also see our truck and trailer which was almost impossible to get to that point in the zoo. We had to back up hill through about 1/2 mile of golf cart paths, it was very fun.
	The Gibbons have a very large outside play area that allows them to climb and swing, even on the bamboo. This is one of the reason they needed large bamboo to start with.
Here is the main entrance to the Gibbon outside habitat. It will have about twice this amount of bamboo installed when finished.
	Directly across the way is the entrance to the mutjac and crane exhibit.
Here is a nice sitting area surround by bamboo to observe the cranes.
	Bamboo was used extensively in this exhibit to create a tropical and lush feeling. Some but not all of the bamboo that were used was black bamboo, gray bamboo, giant leaf bamboo, latifolius, and green onion bamboo.
Here is a peaceful, winding bamboo walkway through the exhibit.
	Two White-Naped Crane are the new neighbors to the Gibbons.
Bamboo was used to provide them with a natural environment.
	There was also Reeve's Mutjac brought in to compliment the Gibbon exhibit. The mutjac have a bamboo house and are very elusive creatures, at least early in the morning. I could only get a picture of his posterior in the picture in the bottom left.
Here are some more pictures of the bamboo that was brought to finish the exhibit. There were all different size of many, many species. One of my favorites is the green onion bamboo to the right.
	Here, we are loading some of the giant black. It is always nice to have a tractor to load with. The only problem is the unloading without it.
There was quite a few large black bamboo that was delivered for the exhibit. These plants weigh around 350-400 pounds each. They are definitely a fun size to handle but worth it once you finally get them planted.
	This is our new little puppy trying to help load. He didn't prove to be too helpful. It was great to be able to help a zoo and we really appreciate the business.

August 2009

Tuesday, August 25th

	Today, we delivered to Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, New Jersey. This is our first of a couple deliveries to help the zoo get ready for the arrival of the Gibbons monkeys. We had worked closely with the architect to find the correct bamboo species for the exhibits and they chose us as their supplier.
Above are some of the bamboos to be delivered to the zoo. Many of these divisions are extremely large and difficult to handle. We use our small tractor to ease the bamboo onto the truck.
	Harper and Rachel Lewis help out to make sure that the order is correct. Harper shows off her ability to count and boss all the help.
We are getting it all loaded for the first trip.
	This is a rare action shot. I like to call it "bamboo to the head".
Here is some of the habitat that is being constructed for Gibbons. This area will be enclosed and connected with ropes to allow the monkeys an area to play and exercise.
	Gibbons are arboreal meaning they spend most of their lives in trees. These pillars combined with large bamboo will help simulate a natural environment for them.
Here, we are unloading some of the large bamboo for the exhibit. There was many species needed for different sites in this exhibit. On this load we transported Giant Gray Henon, Black bamboo, Yellow Groove, and Indocalamus Tessellatus in various sizes.
	You can see some of the various sizes of bamboo that was unloaded at the end of this road. There were many sizes on this load that exceeded 30' of height.
Large sizes are available for zoos or individuals looking to make an immediate impact.
	To the left are some of the Indocalamus Tessellatus. This is the largest leaf bamboo in cultivation in the United States. It is a beautiful bamboo that can tolerate extreme amounts of shade but will also do well in the sun. The large leaf is used for wrapping and steaming foods in many cultures where it is native.
Across from the Gibbons exhibit will be some more complimentary exhibits that use bamboo. Bamboo fencing was used in the construction of these exhibits. We do not build bamboo fences because we try to specialize in live bamboo plants. If you desire fencing like this please contact our friends are Big Bamboo Company.
	Bamboo was also used to construction of a small house to provide shelter for some of the new animals.
There was also some existing bamboo that was effectively used as a bamboo screen to shield the construction from other areas of the zoo.
	Once again, bamboo has proved very useful because it has such a wide range of applications. It was a pleasure to get to work with the Zoo and the Shauger Group on this project. We will have more pictures after our next delivery.