Feeding time - crickets on the menuAt the Bear Center, Holly and Lucky were stars as people enjoyed seeing their antics in and around the pool. https://www.facebook.com/nicki.foley.1/videos/ 10207325768524993
LuckyThe Black Bear Field Course was great—the people, what we did, what the bears did, and what we learned. Part of what we learned was from a Native American spiritual elder who made a pipe and presented it to me with full Native American ceremony. Everyone was touched by the ceremony the honor, and the learning. We want to have a bigger Native American presence in the Bear Center. Native American hunter-gatherers honored bears and mostly coexisted with them rather than trying to eliminate them. We will learn more about Native American beliefs and create an exhibit that includes the pipe, and several other mementos that will go with information on Native American beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies around black bears.
Among the wildlife seen during the course was a garter snake eating a wood frog. A professor of conservation biology trained in environmental awareness found it. Dr. Tom Wood recognized the death cries of the frog. Should we have let nature take its course or save the bright-eyed half-swallowed frog? We saved the frog and made both part of the Ecology Hall terrarium exhibit where both will get free meals as long as we keep them. A poster will tell their story. Looking at the snake, a person would say there is no way it could swallow the frog, but it had it halfway in and was making good headway when we found it. Today, children were fascinated with the terrariums and were eager to learn more about the animals. Seeing the snake and frog that are in the picture should stir special interest.
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| Great Blue Heron - 7/15/15 | Garter snake eating wood frog | Bear on trail cam - 7/11/15 |
Staff checked a trail cam we put up toward Ely. The great blue heron and sitting bear are two of the pictures.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.