One of our most popular and beloved exhibits, Benny is a nearly one of a kind creature that was found wandering near the peaks of the Appalachian Mountains, right here in our very own backyard. While Benny is one of a kind in our care, we do believe there are others like him hiding out in the Appalachians. Benny only came to our care when our zoo curator, Jane Campbell, encountered him injured on a camping trip. He was attracted to her body heat.

Benny in question

Note: The tendrils on his body have the same texture as wet yarn and will yield a sound that is definitely not purring from Benny.

While we have named him endearingly so, we named his phobid species the "Thermocamel" due to his camel like body plan. But we enjoy just calling him Benny as he is the only one we have been able to locate and keep in our care.

Benny is a fairly docile and affectionate phobid when well fed. He is an obligate carnivore that mostly feeds on small to medium animals such as birds or wild boars. However he prefers very fatty animals to hunt as he prefers to absorb the body heat of his prey before eating it, and the fattier the meat the more heat trapped in its body. Prey aren't harmed while he absorbs the body heat using his multiple hair-like tendrils all over his body it seems but he will eat the animal to absorb the rest, but Benny only needs to eat once per week to be satisfied.

His enclosure is equipped with heating lamps, a small hot spring for steam, and heating rocks for lizards. If sufficiently kept warm enough he is essentially docile thanks to the training regiments and activities made by Athena Austin and is suitable to interact with zoo guests. Benny is given various methods to keep him stimulated including high social interaction with zoo keepers and guests, swimming through warm spring waters, and playing in his sandbox. We've discovered that he particularly likes building sand castles using his two forearms. Albeit he is not great at it and his creations are unrecognizable at worst, we encourage guests and employees to show signs of approval to him.

We have also given him a large blanket that he learned he can warm up on his heating rock to carry around whenever he wants. It appears he cannot rest without it.

A photo of Benny taken after hours on his custom heating rock with his blanket.

Note: His tendrils retract while sleeping, supposedly to preserve body heat.

As stated before, he is an obligate carnivore, however he has no preference over what type of meat he is being fed. He does prefer, unsurprisingly, if it is much warmer first. So his diet consists mainly of warm chicken thighs, fish, and bacon. He only needs to eat once per week, but will eat any meat you put in his feeding bin. On special occasions he is fed an entire warmed up turkey.

We have entertained the idea of introducing the idea of hot coals to his enclosure, but Benny has begun to play with the new toy we put in his pen (a series of ropes with small tennis balls attached that he throws around like a swing) and we are afraid he will attempt to throw them. Ms. Austin is training him not to do that. However we have begun giving him puzzles to grab small warm pillows in increasingly difficult to open boxes and he has a success rate of about 50%.

We asks guests to follow certain etiquettes when observing each of the phobid exhibits

For Benny:

Do not tug or pull on Benny's tendrils

Do not throw objects, warm or not, at Benny.

Do not throw hot or boiling water on Benny.

Do not poke or purposefully touch the empty sockets on Benny's head where eyes would be, it is very sensitive.

Do not attempt to take his blanket, unless you are a trained zoo keeper for this zoo only.

Do not attempt to give him any sweets. It will give him diarrhea.

Guests who attempt to harm the phobids or disregard these rules may be warned or asked to leave the zoo.

Repeat or heinous offenders may be banned from the zoo for an indeterminate amount of time or may be taken to local law enforcement.

The fear of shadows and the dark has been a common fear spanning the entire existence of humanity. And throughout myths and legends there have always been stories of creatures in darkness taking you, or shadows that belong to no one stalking you. This primordial fear has led to a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes with one of our exhibits, the Shadowlings. One of our personal favorite exhibits, we take care of these phobids that we spot all over the midwest.

Shadowlings were one of our first projects here at the Zoo After Dark. In fact our founder, Briella Starosta, discovered the species during a trek in Yellowstone. She felt as if she was being followed, seeing a shadow tailing her, but when she finally used her flashlight, she discovered the shadow did not disappear or belonged to anyone. It stayed in the light, even following it as she moved it around.

Note: The shadow in the center belongs to zoo curator Jane Campbell, and the ones on her sides are two of our phobids posing for the camera. Ms. Campbell took this picture while standing in front of a spotlight. Note how you can see where Jane is standing and how her shadow is being cast while the other two are simply 2-dimensional

We get a lot of stories from guests about they're afraid of shadowlings and that they're afraid of the dark in general, all of which are completely reasonable. However, we here at the Zoo After Dark would like to clear up some misconceptions people have had about the Shadowlings, so as to make the experience much more calming and enjoyable.

Despite public perspective, living shadows are not actually dangerous nor do they enjoy the dark. In fact shadowlings actively avoid darkness and shadows as it is indistinguishable with their normal body and they mistake it for other shadowlings. These lovely phobids are quite claustrophobic and tend to avoid close clusters of darkness thinking it's their own kind. That being said they are by no means antisocial creatures and they do enjoy playing with other shadows made by people and animals. Our activities director, Athena Austin, has recently encouraged them to try shadow puppetry using their bodies. They have gotten quite good and their wooly mammoth puppet is impressive.

So you are possibly wondering why there are many stories of people being stalked by shadows while in dark places, if shadowlings are as docile as we say they are, why do something only a wild animal hunting would do? Well it's a surprisingly simple explanation. Humans have a natural aversion to the dark and so they seek out any light sources. Shadowlings follow humans because humans find light sources easier. The more light, the less claustrophobic the phobid is. Shadowlings depend on us to seek out light for them.

Now it is important to clarify that not all humanoid shadows following you should be met with warmth and a welcoming hug since that could possibly be something less docile than a shadowling. But while you are here at the zoo, we encourage you to play with these wonderful creatures.

We've discovered that these phobids do not eat. Yes we've even tried feeding them shadows of actual food, they seem content to simply exist and play with everyone.

The zoo provides a lot of enrichment for these phobids that you can also participate in. Ms Austin and Campbell set up a series of lamps and spotlights around the enclosure so they aren't anxious. They have also set up a few walls facing the guests that are a little more dimly lit, but not enough for them to get anxious. The Zoo After Dark provides miniature spotlights near the visiting area of the shadowlings so guests may be able to play with the shadowlings by creating shadow puppets or simply letting them follow the bright light. We have found this decreases their stress level immensely and provides an enriching experience for all parties involved.

Besides shadow puppetry by guests and our staff, shadowlings do not do much in terms of active exercise or physical stimulation and seem content in playing when engaged with and sleeping underneath the light.

Note: The picture above shows a view of one of their enclosures with a group of shadowlings playing inside. The spotlights for guests have been removed for the night.

Fun fact! A group of shadowlings is called a "Gloom"

Their enclosure is equipped with a full skylight so they can get as much access to sunlight as possible, to save on energy. Their penns are also equipped with overhead fluorescent and spotlights aimed at precise angles to prevent as many shadows as possible. The floor is concrete painted a light green to allow more light to be reflected and to mimic outdoor grass. The lights are solar powered with a back-up generator in the event of a black out.

We have also learned recently that they enjoy fairy lights as a few of the shadowlings followed Jane around as she set them up around the offices near the shadowlings enclosure. Since then we received a few kind donations from zoo guests of fairy lights to set up in their enclosure. The phobids stress level has dramatically decreased. One shadowling in particular has taken a liking to the colorful Christmas lights one guest donated, we have named them "Kenneth."

Note: The above picture is fanart created by one of our zoo guests, for Kenneth.

We plan to add more colorful lights to their enclosure in the future.

Operations Director, Romeo Salomon, has started funding for an exhibition show with the shadowlings where we hire dancers that will dance in front of a bright spotlight with a few of the shadowlings dancing with their shadow for the zoo guests. So we encourage guests to donate funds for this activity as it would prove enriching for the phobids.

In the unlikely event that a shadowling or gloom of shadowlings escape enclosure, we urge you not to panic as they are docile towards humans. While again we do caution guests of going towards humanoid shadows in general, do not be alarmed if they do escape and if you are 100% certain they are a shadowling or gloom of shadowlings, engage in some playful movements with them while we locate and escort them back to the enclosure.

The Zoo After Dark is hard at work in building a new exhibit for the shadowlings called the "Hall of Shadows" where you can walk through an enclosure filled with shadowlings and let them play with your shadow as you explore!

We asks guests to follow certain etiquettes when observing each of the phobid exhibits

Do not attempt to actively overshadow the shadowlings with any shadow puppets.

Do not attempt to make any threatening poses with your own shadows. This makes them nervous.

No shining black lights at them.

While we encourage you to bring your own lights, do not bring anything that would cause an epileptic episode for guest safety.

Do not throw food into their enclosure in an attempt to feed them. They do not eat and do not know you are trying to feed them. They are skittish.

The shadowlings do not recognize you as their own if you wear all black, attempting to make contact while doing this is prohibited.

No obscene shadow puppets.

Do not attempt to try anything that would be obscene towards the shadowlings themselves.

Flash photography is encouraged (not mandatory).

Guests who attempt to harm the phobids or disregard these rules may be warned or asked to leave the zoo.

Repeat or heinous offenders may be banned from the zoo for an indeterminate amount of time or may be taken to local law enforcement.

One of, if not the most popular exhibit to date, the Gawkers. A collection of floating eyeballs that lock their gaze at pretty much anything. These phobids can be found anywhere in the world hiding in shadows or light, but our first group of gawkers came from our very own backyard in the Appalachians. Our founder, Briella Starosa, found them staring at the corpse of large bear. She observed them closely whilst she contacted her small team of zoologists to come and study them. They quickly learned that the gawkers were infatuated by their filming equipment, their uniforms, their bodies, basically anything visual.

After their observation ended, it turned out a few of them had stowed away in the van and followed Briella and her team back to the zoo where they became accustomed to the new strange environment. Getting them settled was not particularly difficult as they do not seem to mind being moved as their gaze will lock onto what interests them most. We have learned however that they prefer moister environments as a large amount of them corralled in the bathrooms much to the dismay of Jane Campbell. We have ruled out that they find bathrooms interesting instead of the moist atmosphere.

Note: Above is a sketch of a gawker made by Briella Starosa whilst observing the gawkers. Below is a better rendering of a gawker complete with scale comparison.

Fun fact: A group of gawkers is called an "Ogling"

Gawkers range in sizes between the average size of a human eyeball to the size of a child's soccerball.

Gawkers do not require much in enrichment as they seem to not care about much of the outside world. Their only prefered enrichment it seems in simple visual stimuli. Their enclosure has been fitted with multiple mirrors and slow blinking lights to visually stimulate them. Whilst we have observed through accident that they seem to be unaffected by rapidly flashing colored lights, we do not recommend exposing them to it for both guest safety and gawker safety. Their enclosure has been fitted with humidifiers to keep their environment nice and moist as dry eyes cause them much discomfort. We have also displayed many pieces of art submitted to the zoo in their enclosures for them to enjoy, laminated of course to preserve them. They do not appear to sleep in anyway we can notice, unless aimlessly floating is also sleeping, so to keep them stimulated after hours we hired local artists to paint the enclosure walls with glow in the dark paint to reduce unnecessary power.

Management has also decided to put a staff break room right next to all of their enclosures, all fitted with windows to entertain the gawkers. A TV is installed in all staff breakrooms, and a handful take likings to certain programs being displayed. However we have noticed that all of them have a particular liking to the CW program Supernatural whenever Ms. Campbell decides to put it on. The entire window becomes covered with gawkers looking inside to watch the episode, much to the dismay of Ms Campbell.

While we encourage the engagement on our staffs end during breaks, we do advise to not watch any episode of Supernatural during visiting hours as it will completely distract the gawkers in the enclosure. We are unsure how they know when it is playing.

Note: Picture above shows the ogling of gawkers corralling in the window to watch the episode with Ms. Campbell.

For guest engagement, we have an open enclosure tour to directly interact with the gawkers. We reassure guests that they are perfectly sanitary and safe to be around casually with supervision of the tour guide and zookeeper. They do not tend to come close enough to make physical contact with the guests or keepers, but we do not recommend attempting to make physical contact.

We also do not recommend taking the enclosure tour if you have scopophobia. Despite that they are incredibly docile towards humans and seem content to only watch from afar to interact.

We have considered training them as a sort of watchdog for the zoo, however it became clear that our efforts were fruitless as they do not have methods of communicating to us nor any interest in alerting zoo security for suspicious figures.

We are planning however for special live exhibition shows involving the gawkers led by Athena Austin in the future. Our operations director Romeo Salomon and financial manager Jiang-Mi Hyun are currently working behind the scenes for an fantastic show for all families. Once again we warn you to not attend if you suffer from scopophobia.

The Zoo After Dark also encourages zoo guests to engage and interact with the gawkers even behind the glass. The more visual activity, the more enriched they will feel. We encourage you to wave at them, dance, sign at them, anything to give them visual stimulation as it is important to us that you become more connected to these types of harmless phobids.

We asks guests to follow certain etiquettes when observing each of the phobid exhibits

No flash photography allowed, to prevent retinal damage.

Do not bring or expose the gawkers to strobe lights or brightly colored lights that would induce epilepsy. This is for the safety of the phobids and the guests.

Follow all instructions during enclosure tour for the safety of the phobids.

During enclosure tours, do not pull on the retinal cords of the gawkers.

Do not enter the enclosure with exposed sharped or pointy objects such as knives, uncapped pens, pointy hair pins, paper corners, or anything of that matter that could possibly harm the phobids.

Despite their preference of moist environments, do not attempt to blow mist into their eyes. Nor attempting to squirt liquids such as water or soft drinks at them. This will harm them and you will be asked to leave immediately.

Do not attempt any staring contests with them, you will lose. Ask Mrs. Hyun.

Do not attempt to throw objects at the gawkers. They may be swift, but that is still a direct endangerment to their wellbeing and you will be asked to leave immediately.

Do not make direct physical contact with the gawkers unless they let you. Even then, let the tour guide or zookeeper guide the gawker away. This is for their own safety.

Do not bring in open cups of lemonade or onion rings into the enclosure. They cannot tell the difference of what is bad for eyes or not.

Do not enter the enclosure if you suffer from pink eye.

You will not get pink eye from gawkers.

Guests who attempt to harm the phobids or disregard these rules may be warned or asked to leave the zoo.

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