ProMedica Museum of Natural History

You are now at the Toledo Zoo’s ProMedica Museum of Natural History. The Museum is home to a wide variety of reptiles, insects, amphibians and fish as well as large life sized models of animals past and present. As you approach the ProMedica Museum of Natural History, there are native plants landscaping the entry way, alongside an impressive two-story greenhouse. When you enter the lobby of the Museum you may notice the smell of fresh brewed coffee or a cappuccino from the Café which offers a variety of drinks and snacks for you to enjoy. The Curio gift shop is located to your left, here you can purchase Museum themed souvenirs. To your right is the entrance to the Tropical Greenhouse exhibit. This exhibit is home to a variety of poison dart frogs and tropical plants. As you explore the museum we hope you develop a greater appreciation for both the Ohio native animals, as well as the often misunderstood poisonous and venomous creatures that are found here.

You are now entering the first floor of our tropical greenhouse exhibit. As you walk through the door into the greenhouse you will quickly be transported into a tropical rainforest as a rush of warm humid air washes over you. Lush green tropical plants surround you. Bromeliads, tropical plants with broad, leathery leaves and striking flowers cover the forest floor. These plants collect water in the center. This is where our poison dart frogs lay their eggs. There is a path you can follow in a circle around the green house to view the various plants and animals that live here. As you start to walk the path you may notice banana plants, towering up to the second story of the greenhouse. You may also hear the loud chirps and trills of the greenhouses most popular residents, our poison dart frogs as they call to each other.

These small quarter-sized, brightly colored frogs are found in the rainforests of Central & South America. Here at the zoo you can often find them hopping across the paths or sitting along the edges of the paths on fallen leaves. The bright colors of their skin helps to protect them by warning other animals that they are toxic. In the green house there are dart frogs ranging in color from bright greens and blues to vibrant yellows and reds. Although highly poisonous in the wild, in captivity they are not. This is because it is believed that their toxin comes from the insects that they eat. In the wild they eat insects who eat toxic plants, but in captivity they are fed nontoxic insects such as crickets.

As you make your way through the greenhouse to the exit door, you will walk through two sets of doors to ensure no frogs try to follow you out. When you exit the tropical greenhouse, you will walk towards the next exhibit in the Museum, Ohio: After the Ice.

As you enter, Ohio: After the Ice, you are sent back in time, to Ohio 13,000 years ago. Large life size models of prehistoric animals once found in Ohio are displayed here. Some of these include: wooly mammoths, sabretooth cats, mastodons, cave bears, dire wolves, and ground sloths. Alongside these prehistoric models are mounts of animals that are still found in Ohio today, such as turkeys, raccoons, black bear, and more. To the left side of this exhibit is a large model of a glacier, a section of which is chilled to form ice on the outside of it for visitors to feel.  While exploring this area of the Museum you may occasionally hear the sound of a stampede of mammoths and other prehistoric animals to help further transport you into this time period.  

You are now entering the Rivers & Streams room of the museum. There is a mural of a lake with lily pads painted on the walls and various Ohio native mounted animals. In the center of the room sits our Sturgeon Touch Tank. This is a large circular tank with a rock feature in the center of it, which houses our lake sturgeon.  

Lake sturgeon are a prehistoric fish with a shark like tail and a bony plated armor like covering. They are found in rivers and lakes in the United States and Canada. Lake sturgeon are one of the largest freshwater fish in North America.  They can live over 100 years old and lengths of up to 7ft long. That’s about as long as a three person couch! Lake sturgeon are also very heavy fish, with adults weighing as much as a refrigerator.  They have whiskers, called barbels, in front of their mouth that help them to sense their food. Lake sturgeon do not have teeth but instead, use their large, extendable mouth to suck up worms, crayfish, mollusks and other small invertebrates from the bottoms of lakes and rivers. 

Behind the Sturgeon Touch tank you will notice an exhibit with a stream running from a higher section to a lower section. There are two areas where you can crawl under the exhibit to view it from below. This exhibit is home to our hellbender salamander. 

Eastern Hellbenders are the largest salamander in the Americas, measuring almost as long as a skateboard! Hellbenders are typically grey to olive brown in color. They have a flat head, with beady eyes, wrinkly skin, and a paddle shaped tail. Due to their appearance they are nicknamed, snot otters or lasagna lizards. Hellbenders are fully aquatic, spending their entire lives in the water. They spend most of their time under rocks at the bottoms of rivers and streams. Hellbenders have a large gaping mouth they can use to eat crayfish and fish that are almost the same size as them!  

As you exit this exhibit be sure to explore the second story of the Museum to view our venomous animal exhibits. 

On the second floor of the museum is our Komodo dragon exhibit. This exhibit has large glass viewing windows and is split into two different sections for our male and female komodo dragons. These exhibits mirror each other, and both include rocky climbing structures, sand for digging, and a small pool.

Komodo dragons are the largest lizards in the world, reaching lengths of up to 10ft. That’s as long as a small moving truck! There scales are black to yellow-gray in color. Beneath their scales are tiny bones called osteoderms which create a chain mail like armor for protection. Komodo dragons have very long muscular tails and large powerful claws. Their yellow forked tongues allow them to smell or taste the air to help them locate their food.

Komodo dragons have 60 sharp, shark like teeth, used for cutting and tearing their food. Their bite can be deadly, due to the bacteria and venom in their saliva, though it may take a few days. Komodo Dragons then track down their prey using their strong sense of smell.

Our last visit in the Museum is the Venom Room. As you enter the room you will notice 3 large venomous snake exhibits along both the left and right sides of the room. In the center of the room, there are some tall rectangular column-like exhibits housing a rotating collection of venomous snakes.

The central exhibit as you walk through the doors to the venom room features the most venomous snake in the world, the inland taipan. This exhibit is a tall rectangular exhibit that can be viewed from all four sides, inside is sand, dead leaves as well as dry sticks and logs. This exhibit is designed to replicate their native habitat in Australia where they are often found in dry soil plains, sheltering in cracks and crevices in the ground. The inland taipan is a medium sized snake averaging 2 meters in length. They are tan to yellowish-brown in color and their rectangular shaped head is often many shades darker than the rest of their bodies. Although it is considered the most venomous, it is not the deadliest. The inland taipan is considered shy, and is rarely encountered in the remote areas of Australia where it is found.

The first exhibit on the left wall of this room is home to our king cobras. This exhibit has two large glass viewing areas. The background of the exhibit features a mural of lush green forest similar to the king cobras native habitat in Southeast Asia. The inside of the exhibit features large woody bamboo stalks as well as some leafy green & dried yellow bamboo plants. On the floor of this exhibit there are sticks, large logs and bamboo leaf litter for the cobras to hide in. In the center of the exhibit is a rocky pool with some large logs around it.

King cobra are typically yellow, green, brown, or black in color, with yellow or white chevron patterned bands. Their throat is typically yellow or cream colored. The king cobra can reach lengths of up to 18 feet long making it the longest venomous snake in the world. That is about as long as a giraffe is tall! A king cobra’s venom is strong enough to take down an elephant! Despite their large size and deadly venom, the king cobra is not considered aggressive and will avoid confrontation when possible. When threatened, king cobras raise themselves up, flatten their neck ribs, and display their hood. This in combination with their loud hissing often deters any sort of danger without needing to bite. In the wild, the king cobra’s diet mainly consists of lizards and snakes, but here at the zoo they feed on mice and rats.

The next exhibit along the left side of the room is home to our Mangshan or mang mountain pit vipers, named after the mountain range where they are found in China. This exhibit features lots of large branching and rocks for the snakes to climb and hide under, as well as lush green ferns and pines. Mang vipers are medium sized snakes reaching up to 7 feet long. They have green and brown scales which helps them to blend in perfectly with their mountain-forest habitat in China. Their camouflage is successful that they weren’t discovered by scientists until 1989! The mang viper has a very unique way of catching their food. The tip of their tail is bright white and resembles a worm. They wiggle their tail to lure their prey, which typically includes frogs, birds, and rodents. Although venomous, these reclusive snakes rarely come in contact with humans.

The final exhibit on the left wall of the venomous snake room houses a variety of rattlesnakes native to the southwestern United States. The background of this exhibit has a mural depicting a rocky desert scene. The exhibit features large rocky shelves or outcrops with multiple levels, the highest point being the back of the exhibit. There are multiple rock caves which provide shelter for the snakes. The floor of the exhibit is covered in sand, rocks, and sticks. There are spikey green cactus plants throughout the exhibit as well.

Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes with large bodies and triangle shaped heads. Rattlesnakes range in color from brown, tan, yellow, green, black, grey or even red. Their coloration often helps them to blend in with their habitat. They can range in size anywhere from 1- 8 feet long. They are well known for their “rattle” found at the tip of their tail. Their rattles are made up of interlocking scales, which gets added to each time the snake sheds its skin. When threatened they can contract their muscles causing the scales on their rattle to click together, making their distinctive rattle sound. This serves as a warning to potential predators to stay away or they may face a venomous bite! Rattlesnakes are found in almost every part of the United States, but are most common in the Southwest. They live in a variety of habitats including forests, grasslands, swamps, and deserts.

As you leave the Promedica Museum of Natural History at the Toledo Zoo, we hope that you have a better understanding of these unique and often misunderstood animals. Enjoy the rest of your journey at the Toledo Zoo.