Mink at the Ecology HallIn the wee hours of this morning on February 21, 2014, snow was blowing into the den, dusting the back half of Juliet and the area in front of the Den Cam. Temperatures were a little below freezing—between 15° and 32°F above zero. Listening to the cubs, we hear protests that may be cubs jockeying for position as they work out nipple order. By 2:21 PM that afternoon, a lot of snow had blown into the den as part of a 9.8-inch snowfall. As far as we can tell, no snow reached the cubs snug under Juliet or in her fur.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmIVbkC3WuE
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/120246965
Archives: http://www.bearstudy.org/website/research/2014-juliet-archives.html
Short-tailed weaselIn the Northwoods Ecology Hall, the amazing habitat exhibit is nearing completion. Peter and Ryan placed a mink and an adult short-tailed weasel in white fur (ermine) and are waiting for a taxidermist to complete a snowshoe hare in white fur. Meanwhile, we’re adjusting exhibit locations to make more wall space. As part of that, we’re hoping the big fish that Lily Fans donated can hang from the ceiling in swimming positions between the canoe and the big (10 feet wide) aquarium rather than putting them on a wall. We also hope another beautiful platform can be built for a beaver exhibit that will include a video of beavers sharing their lodge with muskrats, water shrews, and a mink that ate one of the muskrats in front of the camera—things no one had recorded before we installed a Beaver Cam in October 2001. Beaver lodges remain above freezing and become a sort of wildlife hotel complete with trust, caution, time-sharing, and intrigue among the occupants. The story seems to merit a separate beaver exhibit. A portion of the video was an exhibit in the Duluth Aquarium for years.
Tomorrow, is the annual Wolftrack Classic Dog Sled Race from Ely to Tower, MN. Our own Scott Edgett is a participant. Like last year, we try to help by lending our GPS Units. Scott will be carrying the GPS for the 6-dog section. We’ll be watching his progress because we want to meet him at the finish line, as has been a tradition for me for many years. Photos will follow. The links to follow the race and Scott are these:
http://tinyurl.com/WolfTrackClassic-6-Dog
http://tinyurl.com/WolfTrackClassic-8-Dog
http://tinyurl.com/wolfTrackClassic-10-Dog
http://tinyurl.com/WolfTrackClassic-All-Teams
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center