The Things I Learned At Arbor Day, the Birds and the Bears and the Bees
Issaquah Highlands celebrated Arbor Day last Saturday April 26th. Many people worked very hard to bring the event to pass. If you don’t know what Arbor Day is, it is a day to rejoice in trees, plant trees and care for them. It grew first from a family by the name of Morten that moved to Nebraska in the 1800s, found the landscape barren and missed trees as did their fellow pioneers. It wasn’t just their beauty but they were needed to serve as wind breaks, keep soil in place, for fuel and building homes and for shade from the sun.
J. Sterling Morten purposed a tree-planting holiday (no doubt, it was originally Mrs. Mortens idea, but he got the credit) About a million trees were planted that first Arbor Day!
Thomas Jefferson - “I never before knew the full value of trees. Under them I breakfast, dine, write, read, and receive my company.”
Perhaps we are like Jefferson we don’t appreciate trees enough because we have so many here in the Pacific Northwest. I love flying into the Seattle airport, it is just such a wonderful GREEN sight.
It seems that Arbor Day has grown to include all kinds of things about our earth and the critters that inhabit it and appropriately so.
Seattle Audubon Society Booth - Lindsey Edwards and Audrey Schomer, Conservation Outreach Assistant and Education Outreach Assistant, respectively had much information about birds and even a few examples. The Audubon Society www.seattleaudubon.org 206-523-4483
Paws was present. I was glad to find out that an indoor cat is a happy cat. Mine sure seem to have a great life. I should be so lucky. www.paws.org. PAWS is not just about cats and dogs, but PAWS works to make a difference for all animals and birds too.There are many volunteer oportunities.
The Sierra Club booth was attended by Brian Kilgore and Mariel Young. www.sierraclub.org and www.cascade.sierraclub.org.
There were a number of booths with information about hiking in our area and in the Greater Seattle area. www.wta.org
There were booklets about where to go for Hiking with Dogs, Hiking with Families, even hikes for older folks. One brochure that caught my eye was about the need for volunteers to help maintain the trails. It said:
3 TONS OF SNOW
5 MONTHS OF RAIN
9,000 MILES OF TRAILS
YOU DO THE MATH
JOIN A TRAIL WORK PARTY
HOW ABOUT IT? Want to help?
BLACK BEARS and GRIZZLY BEARS - There was a booth about bears with Michael Tronquet and Julie Hopkins that I found very interesting. Larry and I have encountered a few up here in the Highlands. (not Grizzlys!)
Julie (Hayes) Hopkins, Field Coordinator and Wildlife Biologist is involved with the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project. She gave a most interesting presentation about these two bears and even how to tell them apart in the wild. Good idea!
Here are some facts I learned, the bear facts: Bears diet is 90% vegetarian - berries, grubs, bees, roots, insects, ground squirrels, moths 20,000 at a time, dead animals that are killed by other predators. Bears have the best nose on the planet and are the third most intelligent animal. They have their big toe on the outside of their feet not the in. Bears have trails in the woods they use most often at dawn and dusk. They are creatures of habit.
Grizzly Bears - like space, not people, lose 40% of body fat when they hibernate, become eating machines when wake up. Cubs are few and weigh only about a pound when born. Have very long claws for digging for roots, marmots, grubs, etc. Leave a wide trail. Weigh 400-600 lbs. Have a dished face, shoulder hump, small ears, can be dark or light. Have gotten a bad rap.
Black Bears - like forest, don’t mind people. Claws are shorter but sharper. Love barks soft underlayer, berries, garbage, bird feeders, fruit trees, BBQs. Weigh 150-250 lbs. Leave a much narrower trail. Have a straight face, bigger ears. Are not always black, can be light.
More people are killed by dogs than bears.
This was a great event. I wish more people had been there.
A fed bear is a dead bear - Do not feed - www.bearinfo.org
Posted by Kathleen Cragun
