Paws and Claws Animal Encounters

Paws and Claws Animal Encounters Enriching animal encounters at the Gateway to Hocking Hills since 2015. Encounters on our farm have begun! Check out https://www.pandcencounters.com to book.
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Proud to offer swimming with otters, painting with otters, fox, sloth, and capybara encounters, as well as full tours at one of the most unique farms around.

08/28/2026

Paws & Claws Encounters • 1m ago
Did you know Asian small-clawed otters are the most social of all otter species?
Among carnivores, they are remarkably social-more like wolves or meerkats than most solitary mustelids. In the wild they typically live in family groups of 20 individual but can far exceed this number.

We are booking January-March Swimming with Otters now. You can book here ⬇️
Pandcencounters.com

Happy Friday! Did you know raccoon’s scientific name is Procyon lotor? Lotor roughly refers to "washer," coming from the...
08/28/2026

Happy Friday!

Did you know raccoon’s scientific name is Procyon lotor? Lotor roughly refers to "washer," coming from their famous habit of manipulating food in water.

08/26/2026

Did you know sloths have surprisingly unusual mouths and teeth?
* They don't have incisors. Sloths lack the typical front cutting teeth that many mammals have.

*Their teeth don't have true enamel. Instead, they're largely made of different types of dentin, which wears down as they eat.

*Their teeth grow continuously. This compensates for the constant wear caused by chewing tough, fibrous vegetation.

* Two-toed sloths have large, pointed front teeth. These enlarged teeth are often called caniniforms because they resemble canine teeth, although they aren't true canine teeth.
Three-toed sloths don't have the same prominent caniniform teeth. Their teeth are more uniformly peg-like.

*Their teeth can sharpen themselves. In two-toed sloths, the upper and lower caniniform teeth wear against one another, helping maintain relatively sharp edges.

08/25/2026

Did you know Possums and opossums are different animals, although people in the U.S. commonly call opossums “possums?”

Opossums are marsupials native to the Americas. The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is the species most people in the United States are familiar with. There are actually more than 100 opossum species throughout the Americas.

Possums, in the strict zoological sense, are a different group of marsupials native primarily to Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands.

They're related because they're both marsupials, but they belong to different branches of the marsupial family tree.

Earlier today, I posted a picture of our opossums getting their breakfast, so take a look at our striped possums getting a fun enrichment meal. I took some tree branches that had bark starting to peel and added wax worms, some insectivore diet, banana, and a couple of sliced grapes under the bark. I also put a little nectar on it to keep the treats in place and spark more curiosity and give them a sweet treat.

Opossum breakfast 🍳 scrambled eggs for the win.Did you know opossums have 50 teeth? They have the most teeth of any land...
08/25/2026

Opossum breakfast 🍳 scrambled eggs for the win.
Did you know opossums have 50 teeth? They have the most teeth of any land mammal in North America.

Everest 🤍🧡❤️ the red fox kits aren’t looking much like fox kits anymore. It always amazes me how fast animals grow and h...
08/22/2026

Everest 🤍🧡❤️ the red fox kits aren’t looking much like fox kits anymore. It always amazes me how fast animals grow and honestly how fast time seems to go these days.

08/21/2026

Soaking in our version of “vacation”. We are taking a small break from the people part and spending time with the animals and working on some projects around the farm. We will welcome everyone back September 2nd.

When the otters aren’t in their house or pond, they are usually chilling under the tree trunk. Fallen trunks create natu...
08/20/2026

When the otters aren’t in their house or pond, they are usually chilling under the tree trunk. Fallen trunks create natural shelter. In the wild, roots, hollow logs, and woody debris along banks can provide hiding and resting areas.

08/19/2026

Did you know that when Asian Small-Clawed Otters rub, roll, or wriggle against towels, rocks, logs, bedding, or the ground, there are several different reasons? One: Drying their fur.
Otters have extremely dense fur that needs careful maintenance. After swimming, rubbing against an absorbent or rough surface helps remove excess water and work air back into the coat. Two: Grooming. Rubbing and rolling help arrange the fur and maintain the insulating layer of air close to the skin. For an otter, coat condition is extremely important because fur not a thick layer of blubber—is its primary insulation. Three: Scent marking. Asian small-clawed otters are highly scent-oriented. They have a**l scent glands and communicate through scent marking. Rolling or rubbing can help spread their own odor onto objects or pick up interesting odors. Four: Enrichment/ exploration. Towels are particularly interesting because they're soft, movable and hold scents exceptionally well. An otter can rub on one, dig into it, bunch it up and investigate it.

Did you know the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has one of the widest geographic ranges of any terrestrial carnivore? They now ...
08/19/2026

Did you know the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has one of the widest geographic ranges of any terrestrial carnivore? They now occur naturally across much of the Northern Hemisphere.

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