Maryland Zoo

Atomic Books - 3620 Falls Road, presents, Jackets & Sleeves, a group art show, Oct. 7, 7 p.m. The store presented a number of artists with a list of iconic records and books and gave them the challenge of selecting one and recreating their own cover. E-mail Benn Ray at benn@atomicbooks.com or call 410-662-4444. St. Mary of the Assumption Church - 5200 York Road, offers a crab feast in the church hall, Oct. 8, 6-9 p.m. Cost is $42 per person. Call 410-435-5900.

Go ahead, call her children "hammer-heads. " Mom won't mind. Two young female hamerkops, African wading birds with a flat crest atop their heads that resembles a hammer, were hatched last month at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and should soon be ready to take flight. "They are now fledging and are preparing to leave the nest," said Mike McClure, the zoo's general curator. The two chicks were first seen inside the hamerkops' huge nest in the zoo's African aviary Aug. 18, and since then have been cared for and fed — a chore mom and dad hamerkops share — by the zoo's breeding pair, 10-year-old Edith and 12-year-old Archie.

Patricia D. Shearer, a retired medical administrator and a pilot who flew for the Maryland Civil Air Patrol, died Aug. 23 of colon cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. She was 76. Patricia D. McVay was born in Baltimore and raised on Camp Meade Road in Linthicum. She was a graduate of Anne Arundel County public schools. Mrs. Shearer worked for years as a medical administrator and at the time of her 1997 retirement, she was working for Dr. J. Dennis Branger at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

It's difficult to imagine an animal less likely to draw admiring crowds at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore . A homely giant salamander that hides under rocks, slimes its enemies when threatened, and goes by such aliases as snot otter, devil dog and Allegheny alligator, the hellbender is nevertheless seen as an important and valuable addition to the zoo's collection. Two of the increasingly scarce animals inhabit Hellbender Country, a $200,000 exhibit that is set to open Thursday as part of the Maryland Wilderness area.

Beer, beasts and a beat you can dance to — what's not to love about the Maryland Zoo at Baltimore's annual Brew at the Zoo and Wine, Too? "It's just a beautiful, pleasant way to spend an afternoon, sampling beers, listening to music," spokeswoman Jane Ballentine says of the zoo's largest annual fundraiser. The two-day celebration drew about 7,000 visitors last year, thanks in part to a run of picture-perfect weather. A forecast for intermittent showers this Saturday could cut down attendance a bit, but zoo officials hope the appeal of drinking, dining and hanging out with the animals will bring big crowds out regardless.

Zoe, a 16-year-old giraffe at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore , died Thursday after receiving anesthesia during a medical procedure. The reticulated giraffe was a favorite of visitors who occasionally were allowed to feed her "We are stunned by the sudden loss," Zoo president Don Hutchinson said in a news release. "Zoe was truly part of our zoo family. " Zoe was anesthetized while getting her hooves trimmed — a procedure that is medically necessary to prevent overgrown toenails from becoming painful, and interfering with a giraffe's ability to walk.

Cue the oohs and ahhs. Otto is ready for his debut. The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore unveiled its newest addition — a male Coquerel's sifaka — to the public Wednesday. "People should be very proud to come to their zoo and see these," said Meredith Wagoner, the zoo's mammal collection and conservation manager. "It is very rare that they will be able to … see these. " The addition of Otto is a "highly significant birth for the sifaka population in North America," according to Mike McClure, general curator for the zoo. Coquerel's sifaka are lemurs and native to Madagascar, an island off the eastern coast of Africa.

More of Dr. Ellen Bronson's patients are developing the afflictions typical of old age, including arthritis, failing eyesight, muscle atrophy, kidney problems, flagging appetite, cancer and bad teeth. The problem is that none of her patients can tell her where it hurts. Some are too big for her examining table, and others might prefer to eat her. Bronson, 39, is the head veterinarian at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore , and as better husbandry and veterinary care lengthen the life spans of animals in captivity, she and her counterparts around the country are spending more time on geriatric care.

Time, fashion and finances were not kind to a fabled West Baltimore mansion, a winter palace built by 19th-century railroad builder and engineer Thomas deKay Winans. He gave his residence a curious name, Alexandroffsky. It was every bit a walled Xanadu that caused Baltimoreans to gasp and gossip until the day the wreckers flattened it. The mansion's site is now part of the University of Maryland biotech park. The story behind Alexandroffsky is a good tale, well-documented by Baltimore County historian John McGrain.