Wild Bytes

In the Woods...At Night

noreply@blogger.com (Jerritt Johnston, Director of Education) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:22:00 +0000

Remember what mystery the woods held when you were a kid? Remember what it was like, the first time you walked in the woods at night with a flashlight...and then turned it off? The darkness, the closeness of the tress, the damp of the night air closing around you. Only to be able to get back to that feeling. Luckily, living and playing in northern Minnesota I have had the chance to do that many times over the years.

Eight or nine years ago, my wife and I did an adventure race that started near Tofte, Minnesota. Adventure races generally include mountain biking, orienteering, paddling and often some sort of climbing or rappelling, and require competitors to navigate the entirety of the course using a map and compass. This particular race started at 11:00 pm and would continue until we finished sometime in the late afternoon of the next day.

Almost immediately upon leaving the lights of the starting area and the glow of the large fire that was burning, we realized the northern lights were in full effect. They shimmered and danced for two hours or so as we pedaled our bikes on back roads and trails into the night. Soon after they stopped we saw the Perseid meteor showers and caught glimpses of those throughout the night. We felt so fortunate to be seeing these things, which we surely would have missed were it not for this great excuse to be out overnight. The wonders of that race didn't end with daylight though. Just as the sun was coming up, we got back on our bikes, shivering from a paddle and required swim in a chilly lake. As we turned a corner we were greeted by a large moose cow and two calves. Though we were racing, we stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the spectacle. They disappeared into the deep brush and we continued.

Since that race I have spent many times in the woods in the dark, but another race, brought the true joy of the experience back once again. A good friend of mine chose to enter the Superior 100, a trail running race on the Superior Hiking Trail in northern Minnesota. I have done a few long trail races--a marathon, a 50 kilometer and a 50 mile on the same trail--and when I did it the support I got from my family was invaluable. So when he told me he planned to run it, I offered to run with him through the night-time hours.

This is not a race report, but it is important to say that my friend was extremely impressive. I met him about 14 hours into the race (10:30 p.m.) and in the next 10 or so hours we spent together hiking the trail, he was off his feet for no more than 30 minutes.

If you have spent time moving through the deep woods in the dark you know your immediate visual world is only as large as your headlamp or flashlight is bright. With the ruggedness of the trail, and him leading the way, his eyes were on the roots and rocks immediately in front of him, and I spent almost the entire time looking at his lower calves, his shoes, and the ground over which he had just trod. As the saying goes, "The view only changes for the lead dog."

But what was amazing were the details we caught as we moved along. Late in the night we both confessed that there were multiple times we cursed the runners in front of us for dropping wrappers or toilet paper on the ground, only to discover it was birch bark reflecting back at us. (May have been a little sleep deprivation there, too.) He would point out interesting rock formations or gnarly tress and we would pause slightly to take them in. These details seemed to stand out in particular in the glow of the flashlight. I wonder if we would have enjoyed them in the same way in the daytime.

Then there were the vistas. The Superior Hiking Trail provides some stunning views from tall ridges during the day, but experiencing the wide open sky at night is something special as well. The stars were brilliant and the moon, in its last quarter, was in close proximity to Jupiter and Venus. After a couple long climbs we turned our headlamps off and took a few minutes to enjoy the view.

Sometimes, I end up out at night because I have no other choice. If you live in northern regions and work traditional hours, it's plenty dark when you leave work. The other night I went for a ski on our local trails after work. It was a beautiful night and really dark with no moon visible through the clouds. I could actually hear the wolves howling here at the Center as I began to cross a marsh. Then I caught two eyes in my headlamp. They were brilliant and I couldn't take my eyes off them. Suddenly, I heard a noise and caught one more eye bounding off into the woods. Deer. I spent the next few minutes in a stare-down with the one that didn't move. I snorted at it, stomped my skis and did my awful impersonation of a deer wheeze. It wouldn't move. Finally, I decided it won the contest and moved on with my ski. I finished my ski and once again felt fortunate to have had the chance encounter in the woods at night.

As we strive to learn more about the natural world and wolves' connection to it, I believe it is important to experience it in as many ways as possible. Moving through the woods at night I can't help but think about the wolves that are moving through them too.

The Joy of First Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Jerritt Johnston, Director of Education) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:40:00 +0000

In northern Minnesota, November can be tough. Decreasing daylight, little sun (as little as 30% of possible sunlight peeks through overcast days) and dropping temperatures all make it tough to get outside and enjoy the natural world.

But, the first good snow changes all that. Everything seems a little brighter, the negative spell of November is broken and those of us who choose to call the northwoods home have a little spring in our step.

This weekend we received six to eight inches of beautiful, white snow. The temperature dropped dramatically as well (It is currently 9 degrees Fahrenheit.) and it looks and feels great outside. This morning, my kids were out the door before 7 AM, shoveling snow, sledding and generally just romping around. There was no struggle to get them out the door for school, and everyone in the house was ready for the day.

Snow also allows us to see what is going on in our backyard. Like many people we traveled over the holiday weekend. When we got back to all the snow we barely put our things inside before heading back out to play.

We live in the town of Ely, but right on the edge, and we share a chunk of woods with our neighbors that borders public land. So there is a pretty good and contiguous green space near our property. It is common for us to see coyotes, deer, grouse and a fox now and again. The first snow lets us see what exactly is traveling through the yard.

As we looked into the backyard, we immediately saw tracks heading to our compost bin. We quickly figured out two deer had stopped by and enjoyed a little rotting watermelon and a few bites from flowers edging our garden.

We followed those tracks a bit and saw some canine tracks following those. At one point the canine was walking and then began to run. Did a coyote possibly come across the deer and give chase or did one of our neighbor's dogs just cut through our yard? No way to tell.

A little farther on, fresh snowshoe hare tracks greeted us. Very cool. It is amazing to see the large holes in the snow left by those massive feet. Our family fanned out, checking all of the tracks in the woods and following them to see if we could find anything.

We checked out tracks and played in the snow for about an hour, before heading back into the warmth of the house and our wood stove. What a great way to end the weekend but more importantly what an awesome way begin winter.

November's not quite over, but the snow and cold has let us know we have transitioned to winter. All I can say is, YES!

Grant Writing: An Alternative Funding Source for Educators

noreply@blogger.com (Tara Johnson) — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 19:36:00 +0000

With budgets getting cut, providing outstanding educational experiences for students is proving to be a challenge for schools, administration, teachers and parents. However, there are alternative funds available to make sure that students are still able to have a quality and memorable educational experience.

Grants are monies given by an organization for a particular purpose. Grants are some of the simplest requests for funds. If you have an educational opportunity in mind, consider the following tips to help get the ball rolling as you plan a grant proposal and resources currently available in the field of education.

Grant Writing (Tips from Darcy Berus, our development director)

1. Research into grant opportunities has been made easier and far more accessible thanks to the internet. That's great for everyone.

2. Sign up for resources specific to your field. An example would be the Sharing Environmental Education Knowledge (SEEK) Bulletin. SEEK sends out regular emails announcing grant opportunities.

3. Consider exploring small grants made available by vendors in your community. Examples might include your neighborhood Target store or Sam's Club. These often involve relatively modest applications that underscore funds going back into the communities these vendors serve.

4. It is critical to follow guidelines and restrictions (geographic area, audience served, use of funds) identified in each grant application.

5. Just like we teachers expect, grantors look for neatness, proper spelling and grammar and careful adherence to the application.

6. Nonprofit organizations often have resources — including subsidized programs, transportation fees, etc. — available to teachers. The International Wolf Center, for example, has videoconferencing programs available at no cost to qualifying teachers.

Read more…

For further tips on putting together a competitive grant proposal check out:

Education Grant Resources

Target grants
Target Field Trip grants
Walmart and Sam’s Club grants
Qwest Teacher and Technology grants
Sharing Environmental Education Knowledge (SEEK) grant listings
Education Minnesota grant listings
Office of Grants Management
TEACH grants (available for those going to school to become teachers)

Thank you for educating the next generation. Let us know if we can help out with any educational opportunities with your students. All the best to you in your in your upcoming school year!

Rainy Day Outdoor Activities

noreply@blogger.com (Tara Johnson) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 22:01:00 +0000

We have had quite a few rainy days this summer in Ely and today is one of them. If you are looking for ways to get outside and enjoy the weather with children, here are a few ideas to get you started.

Create a Rainy Day bin

· It is important that children are prepared to handle the weather when they go outside to ensure a positive experience. If they get wet and cold, it is not fun or safe. At our house we have a rainy day bin by the door. It contains the following items so we don’t waste time looking for needed clothing and supplies when the sprinkles start to fall:

o Rain jacket and/or pants

o Rain boots

o Waterproof hats

o Umbrellas

o Bathing suits (for warm rainy days) and swim diapers (for the young ones)

o Goggles

o Buckets

Bubble Fortress

· To make a bubble fortress, you need a large puddle and some bio-degradable dish soap. Pour some of the soap into the puddle and use straws to blow piles of bubbles on the driveway. Experiment with different sizes of straw and other tools. See how far you can spread the bubble fortress before the rain pops the bubbles.

· You can blow bubbles in the rain, too! When hands are wet the bubbles will not pop – try to catch them!

· Directions to make a large bubble wand.

· Directions to make a home-made bubble solution.

Water Pipe Building

· For children with an interest in contraptions and gadgets, building water pipes in the yard is a great rainy day activity. Set a goal on getting the most water into a bucket just with the rain. Using cardboard paper towel rolls or other materials, try to funnel and direct the water from a dripping tree, across the yard and into the bucket.

Rainy Day Nature Walk

· Going on a nature walk on a rainy day allows you and your children to see many things you would not normally see. You can study how water runs down trees, or what type of leaf is best at protecting you from the rain.

· You can jump in puddles. Who can find the biggest puddle? Who can make the biggest splash?

· Go on a scavenger hunt and look for the following items:

o 4 worms

o A rainbow

o A puddle

o A leaf falling from a tree

o Something that’s dry

o An insect hiding from the rain

o An animal print or footprint in the mud

Find Out What Do Animals Do When It Rains

· Look for animal tracks. A great place to look is in muddy areas or near water. Try to figure out or imagine what animal the tracks are from.

· Look for animals or insects who are hiding from the rain. If you are near a park or in a garden, look under leaves, on bark, and in holes. If you are on an urban street, look under overhangs and on the sides of buildings. You will find spiders, moths, and many birds hiding from the rain. If you live near the ocean, you may also find a flock of damp seagulls sitting on lamp posts or on the grass of a field, waiting for the rain to stop. Try to imagine where you would hide if you were a butterfly or a beetle.

Make Mud Pies

· Kids won't need your help to figure out how to have fun in the rain, but sometimes they need your encouragement to get those hands and fingers messy and muddy. Have them use their hands to sculpt the mud into different shapes.

·
Take the mud pie theme a step further, by creating your own mud pie kit. Collect some old spoons, pie tins and measuring cups or cookie cutters. Have any orange juice jugs or small milk cartons around? Use these as molds for mud bricks, which your kids can dry out another day when the sun is shining.

· Tiptoe around the sides of little rivers and puddles and squish your boots into the soil. Wiggle them to make mud. Then bring the experiment indoors if you dare. A little soil from a garden, some sand, some water and a jar and children can make mud inside and out.

Take a rain shower

· If you really want to make your kids laugh, suggest they wash their hair outside. Kids will love the quirkiness of shampooing their hair in the rain!

Worm Spotting

· Worms love to come out when it’s wet and raining out. How many can you see? Dig for worms in a hole in the ground or in a compost bin.

Music and Dance

· Bring containers outdoors and see what the rain sounds like when it slaps into the front and back of them. Try metal containers and place them beside the corner of a building for the biggest noise.

· Use the containers along with spoons, spatulas, sticks, rocks and other found items to make music.

· Grab an umbrella (or not) and sing and dance. Try some of these popular songs:

o Singing in the Rain

o Rain, Rain, Go Away

o It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

o Itsy Bitsy Spider

o What’s the Weather Like Today

Rainy Day Memories

· Give the kids a disposable waterproof camera and have them take photographs of rain drops, worms, puddles and each other enjoying the rainy weather.

Water Party

· Celebrate the rain with a water party complete with a Slip ‘n Slide.

· Pull out the baby pool and have boat races – kids can blow on the sails to make them go faster.

· Stick race - put two sticks in one of the streamlets of water running down the street (or a real live stream, if you're near one) and see which stick "wins" the race.

· Water balloon toss – toss either water balloons into buckets of water placed at differing distances or stand in a circle and toss to one another. The first one to drop it is out.

· Balance the water bowl – each person puts a plastic bowl or container of water on their head and races from one side of the yard to the other.

· How much rain will fall in the jar – each person takes a guess and using a permanent marker draws a line on the jar and puts their initial next to it.

Become a Water Detective

· Find out where the water goes. Follow a small stream down a street to a storm drain, or discover a small lake or a giant puddle. This can be the beginning of a larger exploration of your neighborhood, to larger streams or to an estuary where hidden drains emerge into the water. If the water goes underground, try to find out where it goes. Municipalities will have a list of the drains and their entrances and exits.

Get Artistic With the Rain

· Many children love to draw on the driveway or sidewalks with big pieces of chalk. However, this is usually done on warm, sunny days. Next time it rains, gather up your chalk and head out to the driveway. In the rain, the chalk will become more like paint. If you have a flat driveway, your children can enjoy swirling the chalk together in puddles. If your driveway is sloped, they can create masterpieces with colors running downhill.

· Paint with rain. If you find a promising puddle catch some of the rain in containers. Give the children giant brushes and let them paint the house, driveway, sidewalk or themselves!

· Mix up a bowl of mud and move to a covered area outdoors with some construction paper and paint a masterpiece while listening to the rain fall. Try painting a little mud onto the back of a leaf, rock or stick and stamp them onto the construction paper.

Make it Educational

· Find the answers to the following questions together:

o What makes clouds?

o How is rain made?

o Where do rainbows come from?

o What changes do you see? Have them observe how things change with the rainy weather and then draw a picture of what they see.

o How much rain will fall today? Measure the rainfall. Put out a rain gauge and measure the rainfall. Have the kids watch the weather report or do some research online about how much rain fell in other parts compared to where you live. Use the water on a sunny day to water plants, make mud pies and paint with water.

These rainy day activities help children learn that they won’t melt in the rain. When we are prepared with the clothing and supplies we need being outside in the rain can be tons of fun!

There are many ideas out there. If you have some family favorites, don't be a stranger - post them in the comment section below. We look forward to hearing from you!

If the weather is unsafe (thunder and lightning) then it is better to stay inside. Here are some quick inside activities you can try inside:

· Make a fort

· Pile up blankets and pillows and take a nap together

· Paint with shaving cream

· Make cloud dough or salt dough to create sculptures

· Have a dance party with music

· Bake a healthy snack together

· Read from your favorite book together

· Play games (flashlight tag, hide and seek, etc.)

Generation W

noreply@blogger.com (Jerritt Johnston, Director of Education) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:43:00 +0000

I just came across this video from Yellowstone National Park. Generation W

I think this is a really interesting premise. For adults in the contiguous 48 states, most of our lives have been lived without wild wolf populations in most of their historical range. But, for young adults and children wolves have been part of the natural ecosystem in their current locations for most, if not all, of their lives.

Will that simple fact have any impact on the future of wolf survival? Will people who come of age at a time when wolves are more prevalent in the wild feel more or less connected to this important animal? Will it encourage them to get involved in topics of wolf management and wildland preservation or will they feel there is no need?

What do you think?

Visiting the Pagami Creek Fire

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Edberg, Information Services Director) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 21:20:00 +0000

Visiting the Pagami Creek Fire

Last weekend I took a long-awaited Boundary Waters trip with members of my family. We chose to go in at Lake One, ground zero for the infamous Pagami Creek Fire of 2011. I had been told by a friend who guides BWCAW trips that Lake One was getting less use this summer due to the misconception that the fire had left Lake One and the surrounding “number lakes” desolate and void of life.

Photo courtesy of InciWeb

I found this interesting and sad at the same time. From a young age I learned that fire offered an opportunity for the next stage of succession in a wilderness setting. Nature is a wondrous mystery where life springs anew with each natural disturbance. I found it unfortunate that others did not see the fire in the same light. What a great opportunity to see with one’s own eyes the powerful change that occurs after a wildfire or some other natural disturbance.

It had been nearly 40 years since my father and uncle had been back to the BWCAW for a canoe trip and I was ecstatic to share this trip with them. I was even more excited to share with them the knowledge that I had of the area’s forests and wildlife.

On our second day, we took a day-trip over to the mouth of the Pagami Creek to see just how much the fire had affected the landscape. We could see a few burnt, orange balsam and pine trees off in the distance from our campsite on the northeast end of the lake and eagerly paddled across to the opposite side where the fire originated.

As we approached the bay and passed several islands, the southwest end of Lake One opened up and we were able to get a panoramic view of the burnt shoreline. As with most wildfires, the burn pattern was a beautiful matrix of blackened trees and branches, rocks and soil mixed in with green shrubs, trees and grasses.

My family was surprised to see that it wasn’t just a massive black hole of burnt tree trunks. I explained that in some areas of the fire where it had burned the hottest, one would expect to see that. However, even in those areas the fire may jump or move around an area due to water or wind and leave a perfect green patch of untouched land.

Photo courtesy of InciWeb

I hope that other groups heading into or through those areas affected by the fire make the time to take in the forest succession taking place right before their eyes.

Plan your trip!

Let's Go Camping!

noreply@blogger.com (Tara Johnson) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:32:00 +0000

School is out for the summer. Time for a family vacation! What better way to spend your time together than around a cozy campfire eating s’mores and telling fun stories with people you care about? Camping can be a great bonding experience for families. Below are some fun tips to get your started.

Plan

Pick a camping spot – Involve your family members in choosing the location for your camping trip. Learn about the area and plan some outdoor activities you could do while camping (e.g. hiking, canoeing, swimming, biking, bird watching, games, etc.). Here are some great places to start:

Make a packing list – Make a packing list for your family and let children use the list below to pack their own bag for the trip. Be sure to check it before you leave to make sure all necessary items are included and to add a few extra sets of clothes.

Pajamas
Stuffed animal
Sleeping bag
Pillow
Flashlight
Sweatshirt
Long pants and long sleeved shirts
Shorts and t-shirts
Socks
Camp shoes
Swim suit
Hat and sunglasses
Bug spray and sunscreen

Plan meals ahead – There are lots of fun ways to prepare food in the outdoors. Check out some kid friendly recipes here. Purchase your food at least a day in advance and store items in a cooler with plenty of ice.

Practice

Try it out - If you or any of your family members have not been camping before, take the time to practice setting up your tent and camping supplies in your own backyard; or venture out to a local park.

Take notes – Doing a test run close to home allows you to see what additional materials you will need when planning for events like bad weather or medical emergencies like scrapes, cuts or blisters.

Arrive early – It is helpful to plan on getting to your site before dark. It usually takes some time to set up camp and you will need to see what you are doing. Take time to orient yourselves to the location by finding the bathrooms/showers, water pumps and garbage facilities, if available.

Everyone helps – Camping is a family activity and everyone should help out. Give children little tasks help set up and help around site as adults work on the tent or starting a campfire.

Set ground rules – It is important that everyone knows what is allowed and what is not. The rules of the campground should be followed, but also camping etiquette and being polite such as:

Be safe (e.g. parents/guardians know location of children at all times, campfire safety and ticks checks)
All food and garbage put away
Keep noise level down
Use only your campsite (no running through other campsites)
Keep pets on a leash and supervised

Relax and have fun - Take some time to do the activities you planned to do together!

Conservationist vs. Environmentalist: Real or Imagined?

noreply@blogger.com (Jerritt Johnston, Director of Education) — Thu, 31 May 2012 17:50:00 +0000

I wrote this article for the Summer 2012 International Wolf magazine. After a couple of conversations this week, I thought it might be of interest. It is a bit longer than most of our posts, but hopefully you find it worth the read. Please respond with your thoughts or ideas on the topic.

Are you an environmentalist? Are you a conservationist? Is there a difference? If there is, what does it matter for the long-term survival of wolves?

First, why is this topic important for wolves? As wolves enter a new stage in their history in the United States, the work of ensuring their long-term survival might look different from the work of the last three decades. Fighting for protection of the animals, their reintroduction and social acceptance as they spread throughout some of their historical range might require a very different approach than stabilizing habitat or ensuring sufficient prey. Understanding what conservation and environmentalism mean in our social contexts and possibly working to change common perceptions of these terms are important for sustaining viable wolf populations.

Conservation and environmentalism have very similar definitions in the dictionary. Both promote an ethic of stewardship of the natural world, and without the connotations many of us have come to understand, the terms might be considered synonymous.

But to most people who fall into one category or the other, they seem not to be. Upon being asked, most people who consider themselves conservationists or environmentalists see a clear distinction between the two labels, though the distinctions people draw are often different. Interestingly, among the people I spoke with for this article, the label environmentalist often has an edge of negative connotation—sometimes even among people who label themselves as one.

According to my very informal gathering of opinions, a general consensus develops regarding the characteristics of conservationists: People agree that conservationists are much more interested in preserving and managing a resource for future use, with “use” being the operative word. There is some sense among the people I spoke with that conservationists are much more willing to accept human impact on a resource as long as it will be there for future generations. There also seems to be agreement that
conservationists are willing to fund and participate in direct service to preserve and manage the particular resource in which they are interested.

People also gather around general characteristics of an environmentalist. Most people I spoke with believe that environmentalists want to minimize or reverse the impact humans have on the natural world, and they take a holistic approach to environmental issues. People I spoke with also believe that environmentalists are often more comfortable advocating for public policy changes and using the legal system to achieve their goals.

Amy Ellwein, geologist and science education researcher at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, described a key tenet of environmentalism this way: “What people decide to do about known problems is tied up in our values. I don’t think it is easy to deny that most environmental problems are caused by human consumption patterns and by human overpopulation.”

In nearly every discussion I had on the topic, there was a moment that became charged, loaded with importance on the true weight of the topic. The “real” differences were divulged:

“Conservationists are more rural, and environmentalists almost all live in the city.”

“Environmentalists are more pessimistic, and conservationists are more optimistic.”

“Conservationists just want to preserve animals, so that they’ll have something to shoot in the future.”

“An environmentalist, from what I can see, is afraid to enjoy anything, because every human action destroys the Earth in some way.”

“I think of conservation as what happened during an earlier time, like Roosevelt setting aside national parks.”

That last comment sparks an alternative view of conservation. Jason Booth, vice president of development and communications at the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, draws attention to the fact that what many people see as one of the most important
conservation acts of the 20th century, benefitted directly from displacement of native people from their homelands.

“It’s important that people understand the history of the conservation movement in America, in its full context,” said Booth.

So, why is all of this important? Scott Yaich, Ph.D., director of conservation operations at Ducks Unlimited, answered the question this way: All of the people who truly care about the environment combined are a small segment of the overall population, and the artificial distinction between conservationists and environmentalists negatively impacts important work.

“This division has long bothered me, and it terribly weakens our ability to achieve goals that we share more closely and passionately with each other than we do with other segments of society,” said Yaich. “Yes, there are some things that we are going to
have to agree to disagree about along the way, but there is so much more in which we share a common interest.”

So how would you label yourself? Is it necessary to label at all? Moving forward, can those of us who care deeply about wolves specifically and the environment as a whole find common ground with those who share a love of the natural world but enjoy
it differently?

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Edberg, Information Services Director) — Fri, 11 May 2012 19:56:00 +0000

Seeing is believing

Spring is almost over, and one of wildlife’s most constant events has come for many species already: the birth of their young. Whether in captivity or in the wild, the biology of reproduction is difficult to ignore.

At our interpretive facility in Ely, Minnesota, staff care for five adult captive gray wolves, and although all males, these wolves are also expecting young.

Wolves are instinctual creatures driven by the urge to reproduce—even in captivity. To manage these natural behaviors, all wolves at the Center are altered (spayed and neutered) by one year of age. The altering not only prevents reproduction but also mellows the hormonal surges associated with the breeding season that can heighten tensions within the pack. However, altering the wolves makes it a more difficult task to obtain pups.

In order to maintain a socially cohesive group of wolves for our exhibit, new life must be added. Approximately every four years, the Center plans for pups.

Bolts (male) Peanut (female)

“Bolts” and “Peanut,” nicknames until permanent names are established, arrived at the Center in April and are quickly growing into their role as the newest ambassador wolves at the Center. In just a few short months they will join Aidan and Denali in the Exhibit Pack.

While there are many individuals that would prefer pups every year for the entertainment value, we attempt to add pups to the exhibit every four years, allowing enough time for the pack to be cohesive but not allowing the pack to age to a point that new pups would be stressful and testing of the older animals’ weaknesses. This creates a safe and dynamic environment for the wolves but just as importantly, for the visitors who come to learn.

Based on the experience of over 100 combined years of experience, staff and Center advisors believe that our ambassador wolves help foster visitors’ respect for an animal that they may never see in the wild.

From personal experience, I see and appreciate their value as teachers. I can’t tell you the incredible opportunity these wolves offer on a daily basis to learn about wolves. I am so fortunate to be a participant in helping others better understand the wolf.

Learning about wildlife from a book or even a documentary on TV certainly has its value. However, taking that information and cognitively applying it while observing wildlife provides opportunities for a vast array of social and ecological connections.

The ambassador wolves here at the Center have the ability to help children decipher fact from fiction, students connect the strands of the food web, and busy adults remember the wonder of nature.

Although I feel I provide a great learning experience to visitors at the Center, no one comes to here to see me. It 's the wolves who draw them in and the wolves who are unknowingly the best teachers.

To facilitate long-distance learning from our newest ambassadors, a live-streaming pup cam from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Central Standard Time daily.

Details on each individual pup, events featuring the pups or in honor of the pups and ways to see the pups are all available at www.wolf.org.

Participate in the “Name the Pups” contest.

Taking Advantage of a Lunch Break

noreply@blogger.com (Tara Johnson) — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:58:00 +0000

Not all of us have the luxury of leaving our work site to take a lunch break. Today, I did and decided to take a quick adventure. My husband and I ventured down to Winton, a small town near Ely, to watch the spawning white sucker fish in the Shagawa River. If you watch closely you will see a redhorse sucker (redish colored fins) mixed in with the group in the video below.

white sucker fish

redhorse sucker fish

Suckers will spawn in spring in shallow water like under this bridge. The females, larger in size, in this video swim sideways and backward down the river as they release the eggs. The males, smaller in size and with stripes, "herd" the female, or cluster near her, and fertilize the eggs as they are released. From up above it looks like a pile of fish. Enjoy!

Learn more by visiting:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish/whitesucker.html

Nature Bags and Sensory Activities

noreply@blogger.com (Tara Johnson) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:09:00 +0000

Getting children outdoors has value. Last week, I discussed the difference between structured (adults guiding children in activities) and unstructured (children making up play as they go) play. I also shared some ideas to try with children. This week, I will share some structured activity ideas to try with children: nature bags and sensory activities.

Nature Bags

Nature bags are tools that children can use when exploring outside. They consist of a bag and contents that will aid them in their exploration to encourage creativity, imaginative play, emotional connection to nature, physical activity and intellectual learning. We keep ours in the closet next to our coats and take them with us whenever we head outside as a family. See the list below to get you started in creating your own nature bag.

Bag Types. Bags with straps and zippers work best. We have used blank totes that kids have decorated to make more personal. They loved doing it and took more ownership of the bag and its contents!

Possible Contents. Included in this list are items that will help children look at things closely, measure, identify, collect, pick apart, view without touching, make rubbings of, draw or record. This is just to get you started. Feel free to add to the list as you learn what you need in your adventures. Keep in mind, however, that the bags should be light for little children to carry.

Magnifying glass
Field guide(s)
Ruler
Bandana
Mini clipoard
Metal probe and Tweezers (to pick apart objects)
Container with lid or Plastic bags
Peeled crayons
Pencil or Pen
Nature journal

Preventing Fears. Sometimes children may have fears about being outside (adults, too!). It is important to address these fears and empower others with strategies to face their fears (i.e. If a child is fearful of bugs, they can carry the bug spray for the group. If the fear is getting hurt, they carry the band aids.). Then, the child can help if a strategy is needed. Here are some ideas of things that may be helpful tools to include in nature bags to face fears. However, they are good to have along in your bag even if the kids don’t have related fears.

First aid kit (injury)
Flashlight (darkness)
Whistle, map and compass (getting lost)
Toilet paper (bathroom)
Bug spray (bugs)
Water bottle (thirst)
Snacks (hunger)
Sunscreen (sunburn)
Sun hat or sunglasses (sun in eyes)
Warm layer and extra clothes (too cold or wet)
Rain coat and boots (weather)

Sensory Activities

We as people use the five senses (sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing) each day of our lives. Below are some ideas to do on a hike with children that involve using their senses. There is one activity for each sensory area. Animals also use their senses to survive. See if children can come up with an animal that uses a sense and what it helps them do in nature. After trying these, see if you can come up with some of your own activities together.

Sight. Gather 3-10 items from the surrounding area and place on ground. Examples might include a pinecone, wildflower, leaf, stick, etc. Cover them with a bandana. Tell children that they have 30 seconds to memorize the items. Uncover the items, count to 30 and cover them again. Then, allow children to go hunt for the items and bring them back. Share what they find and celebrate which ones they remembered using their sight.

Smell. Gather 4-6 film canisters with lids. Dip cotton balls in different scents (peppermint mouthwash, cinnamon, coffee, buttered popcorn, peanut butter, garlic powder, essential oils like orange or rose, etc.) and put inside the canister. Using a bandana, cover the eyes of the children. Then, hold the opened container under their nose. Tell them to take a deep breath, smelling through their nose. See if they can guess what scent is in each canister.

Taste. Place four items in a brown paper lunch bag or sack from home. The items should cover the different tastes (sweet, sour, salty and bitter). Examples might include a piece of chocolate, sour gummy worm, pretzel stick and lemon wedge. Using a bandana, cover the eyes of the children. Then, have them each grab one item from the bag and stick it into their mouth. See if they can taste if it is sweet, sour, salty or bitter and if they can identify the item without looking. It is always a good idea to choose items that your child is comfortable with or enjoys.

Touch. While hiking along the trail, pick up rocks that are the size of a child’s fist. Pick up enough so each child can have one. Then, have the children sit down in a circle. Place a bandana over the eyes of each child. When all eyes are covered, place one rock into each child’s hands. Tell them that this is their rock. Have them use their sense of touch to explore their rock and memorize what it feels like. Then, gather all of the rocks and place them in the center of the circle. Tell the children to take off their bandana. Their job is to find which rock belongs to them in the pile.

Sound. Gather 4-10 film canisters with lids. Pair containers so that each container will have one item inside that matches the item in a second container. Examples might include two containers with a paperclip inside, two with popcorn kernels, two with sand, two with ripped up tissue, two with coins, etc. Secure the lids on the containers and give them a shake. Each set has a unique sound. Then, pass the containers out to children. Have them shake their container and listen to the sound it makes. Their job is to find their partner in the group by shaking their canisters and using their listening skills. Their partner has a shaker that sounds just like theirs.

Time to give some of these ideas a try. Don’t feel like to you need to do all of them. One or two might be a good stretch for youngsters. Share your experiences with us in the comment section below. What have you done with children in the outdoors that was successful?

Some of the sensory activity ideas listed came from the book Small Wonders.

Muddy Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Tara Johnson) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

“Muddy shoes may be the mark of a well-educated child.”

-MN Conservation Volunteer Magazine-

As I was starting to get my garden ready this spring, I looked over and saw my daughter

playing in the weeds and dirt. Her feet were muddy and she was attempting to taste

some grass …This made me think of some ideas I recently read about kids and outside

play.

The National Association for Sports and Physical Education recommends that

preschoolers get two hours of exercise daily (1 hour structured, 1 hour unstructured) .

Structured play includes adults guiding children in activities. Unstructured play

includes children making up play as they go (unstructured free play outside is called

nature play). Both are important. This week I’ll discuss unstructured play.

Keep it Simple

Do it outside. Choose a natural area where kids are free to explore, play and relax – even to cause a little minor damage. A few scratches and dirt are no cause for alarm. The space does not need to be large, but should have natural features such as rocks, dirt, trees, mud, flowers, water and bugs. You don’t need to travel far, most of this can be found in the backyard, the empty lot across the street or even the nearby park.

Kids do it. Free play is when kids get to “make it up as they go.” Adult supervision is fine and necessary for all child care, but adult intervention should be limited. Then, children can use their own imagination to create play. If the site is naturally rich, they’ll find plenty to do with nature - digging, wading, picking, catching, smelling, climbing – not just in nature.

Do it often. The greatest impact of nature play comes when it is a regular part of

children’s lives. Do it over and over again, no matter the weather.

Do it cheap. You can do this on a budget. No extra materials are really needed. If

something is recommended, it is usually found around the house.

Nature Play Ideas

Although it is a little longer than usual, this blog post is packed full of useful ideas for you to keep handy. You may not be able to or needing to do all of the things on the list below, but depending on your individual situation, one or more of these ideas might work for your family.

Digging Pit: Using kid-sized shovels, let them dig holes and tunnels! Dirt digging pits will miraculously turn into mud puddles after a rain, but kids won’t mind.

Dirt Pile: Just plain old dirt. The larger the pile, the more fun and creative play will be. It will inevitably get muddy and messy, but kids will have even more fun!

Leaves: Rake the fallen leaves into giant piles and let the kids have at ‘em! They even like to do some of the raking!

Water: Kids love water play! Provide water from multiple sources if possible: a hose, faucet, sprinkler, rotating sprayer, rain barrel, hand pump or even just spray bottles.

Water Transport: Part of the fun of water play is moving it around! Use watering cans, buckets, hollow bamboo poles, plastic pipe (with curves and connectors), plastic gutter sections, pots and pans, recycled milk jugs, etc. Kids can gather water from a faucet, hose or rain barrel to collect it.

Sand: Lots of it! Contained by shrubs, landscape timbers, old tires used as planters, boardwalks, whatever. Have a source of water nearby because sand becomes really great for artistic play when it’s wet.

Plants: Grow plants in beds, giant pots, window boxes, old tires and grow vines up trellises and trees. Choose plants for species diversity, various colors, different heights and textures and strong fragrances.

Rocks and Boulders: Let kids build with rocks that are small enough to carry around, but too large to throw.

Logs: Just lay one or more large logs on the ground for balancing, sitting and hiding. Stake them in place or partially bury them so they can’t roll unexpectedly. Lay several together in an end-to-end zig-zag to produce a nice challenge course! Add some soft fall surface around them, just in case.

Tunnels: You can create tunnels by growing gourds, beans, cucumbers or squash over a row of store bought trellis arches. Planting willow “whips” (cut, straight stems) in parallel lines and tie the tops together as they grow. Willow stems are flexible when young, so its easy to shape them with twine, wire or posts.

Hills and Berms: Children love small, grassy hills that they can roll down, charge up, sled on, hide behind or use for “king or queen of the mountain!” If you have such a slope, plant it with tough, hardy grass and keep it clear for uninhibited play.

Sunflower House: Plant sunflower seeds in a large circle in spring, leaving a space for an entry. Then, as the sunflowers grow into a tee-pee shape, lay a blanket on the floor and let the kids play in their “secret” place.

Adventure Paths: Create very narrow, meandering routes through tall grass, between boulders or just connecting two activity areas. Use small stepping stones, “tree cookies” (log slices), wood planks or just dirt or mulch. If the path leads to a “secret” nook, all the better!

Discovery Board: Lay a piece of scrap plywood, roughly 2 feet square on the ground in a quiet, vegetated corner of your play area. Leave it for a couple days and then periodically check to see what’s moved into the micro-habitat underneath! You can find pill bugs, ants, slugs, millipedes, and other mini-beasts with kid appeal! Always put the board back in the same spot.

Loose Parts for Outdoor Construction Play: Use small logs, large wooden blocks, boards, branches and tree cookies for outdoor construction play. You can also add sticks, milk crates, tarps, sheets of cardboard, blankets, pine cones, corn stalks and reeds for more variety.

Toys and Tools: Keeping a variety of toys and tools around can help kids explore and play with nature. Include items like insect nets, bug houses, magnifiers, binoculars, spades, scoopers, sieves, colanders, buckets, rakes, small plastic containers, pots and pans, watering cans, etc.

With spring right around the corner it is a great time to get outside! Don’t be shy – share some of your favorite ideas so we can learn from each other. Next week we will visit about structured activities to try with children next week.

Ideas taken from Green Heart Institute for Nature in Childhood: http://www.greenheartsinc.org/Parents__Guide_4MOL.html

Resources

A Parents’ Guide to Nature Play http://www.greenheartsinc.org/uploads/A_Parents__Guide_to_Nature_Play.pdf

Minnesota Children and Nature Connection http://www.mncnc.org

Child and Nature Network http://www.childrenandnature.org

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Edberg, Information Services Director) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 20:46:00 +0000

Ruminations on Winter Severity

I recently did a phone interview with a reporter about the unseasonably warm temperatures we’ve been having in Minnesota this winter and how that may affect the wolf population in Minnesota. My comments revolved around the challenge of needing more data to conclusively determine if and how this past winter affected wolves in the state at this time.

Anecdotally, we can make some educated guesses based on what we know about wolf and deer ecology and the state’s winter severity index (a tool used by wildlife biologists to estimate the effect of winter conditions on white‐tailed deer populations).

Images: Wolf tracks on Saganaga Lake; Source

For example, research tells us that wolves have a physical advantage over deer in deep snow conditions. Large paws distribute the wolf’s body weight and act like built-in snowshoes whereas the deer’s narrow, pointy hooves poke through the snow to the ground. A chase in deep snow would give the wolf the upper-hand. However, this year’s low winter severity rating did not provide an opportunity for wolves to use that physical tool and may have affected their hunting success overall.

Little snow also means that deer may have had an easier time foraging for food. Less energy used for traveling through deep snow and easier to access food resources logically means better fed deer. However, the quality of the resources is also an unknown factor right now. Warmer winter temperatures also mean less energy used staying warm. Generally, a deer that is well-fed and warm tends to have more strength and energy to fend off or run away from wolves. (Image: Deer burn lots of energy moving through deep snow like this. Unknown Source: email circulation)

Additionally, if more deer are finding more food and more deer survive until summer rather than starving to death or dying from exposure then that means less carrion for wolves to scavenge on in the spring.

It would make sense to ponder the reproductive impact that a warmer winter would have on deer as well or conversely, the impact on wolves. Will more does have twins this spring thus increasing the chance that more fawns will survive the year?

Alternately, we may or may not see an impact on the number of pups born per pack or how many survive their first year.

It will be interesting to see how this low snow, warmer winter plays out for the wolves and deer of Minnesota.

The game’s not over though. I find it hard to believe that we won’t see more white stuff on the ground before May…

This is Ely in March?

For more information on the complexities of predator/prey relationships, I recommend visiting the Isle Royale Wolf/Moose Project Website. Not only is there a variety of scientific articles on the subject but there are also some interesting ruminations on the unexpected connections in nature.

For more information on Minnesota deer herds, I recommend visiting the state’s Website . There are details on deer density, hunter harvest, the effects of climate and much more.

Learn more about winter severity with curriculum from the New Hampshire Education and Environment Team.

A Quiet Place

noreply@blogger.com (Jerritt Johnston, Director of Education) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:01:00 +0000

This video about Sigurd Olson's Listening Point, created by the Minnesota DNR, reminds me of some very important topics in environmental education that really apply to all of our lives.

The importance of time to reflect:
For people around the world, it is becoming harder and harder to disconnect from modern conveniences, stop socializing and quietly reflect on any subject. My experience as a classroom teacher drove this home regularly. Though there are great variances in students and classes, the students I worked with could usually make it about five minutes. I asked them about other times in their day during which they were quiet and reflective, and almost to a student they admitted that is was generally only when they slept. That's a problem. People of all ages need time to be silent and to think, without the intrusion of others, technology or information. Sigurd Olson used to retreat to his cabin every day for quiet reflection, what would that do for our students, for ourselves, to be able to have silent time each day?

The importance of a place to reflect:
Those same students who rarely took time to reflect also made it clear they often did not have a place to reflect. Brothers and sisters running around, televisions or radios making noise, and houses and apartments that were active until late in the night did not encourage thoughtful reflection. This describes many of our lives, active and noisy from the moment we awake until the moment we shut our eyes.

Most of us won't have a beautiful property sticking out into a remote lake to which we can escape, but can we carve out some physical place for quiet thought?. Where do you go to reflect? What is that spot that calms you physically and mentally enough to allow you to gather your thoughts? If you are a teacher in a classroom, how do you create a place for students to do the same?

The importance of Wilderness and wild places: Olson's Listening Point is literally on the edge of Wilderness. Burntside Lake on which it sits is one of the entry points to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It's beauty is hard to match and the solitude it provides even today is real. Most of us are not so fortunate to have Wilderness at our doorstep, but that doesn't mean we can't experience its draw and share our passion for it with others. Whether it's the squirrel in our backyard, a flower in a city garden or a rare glimpse of a wolf in the wild, our natural environment has much to teach us, and we have a great responsibility to learn.

Wolf or Coyote?

noreply@blogger.com (Tara Johnson) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:07:00 +0000

My family spent a recent Sunday checking out a local lake for some ice fishing in the late afternoon. Our seventeen month old was tuckered out, so on the hike in she napped in her sled.

The hike was less than a mile to the lake. It was a gorgeous sunny day! As we walked, we came across 10 piles of scat and multiple urine marks along the trail. So, what animal was marking the trail? Was it wolf or coyote? How can we tell? I see lots of deer hair. Hmm…. that could be wolf or coyote up here. We needed to see some more sign to be able to confirm our suspicions.

As the trail ended and we emptied onto the lake we encountered track patterns. The snow was not deep, but there was enough so that the first tracks we saw were holes punched in the snow. Deer struggle in this type of environment because their pointed feet sink right through the snow. Canines like coyotes and wolves, however, have interdigital webbing between the pads of their feet which allow them to spread their toes apart. Their feet act as snowshoes, spreading their weight upon the snow, and allow them to travel easier through the winter months.

Animal tracks typically fall into four gait patterns as seen in the chart above. The tracks we saw on the lake look like diagonal walkers (i.e. ungulates, felines and canines) who move opposite limbs together, right foreleg with left back leg.

Wolves and coyotes also have flexible scapulas which allow them to walk in a straight line. Their front feet land on the ground, one in front of the other, and their back feet follow in almost the same place. Similar to the tracks we spotted on the lake. The tracks were canine, but how do you tell if they are wolves or coyotes?

We also came across some individual tracks on the packed trail across the lake that people had made. The tracks were of a healthy size. Our black lab was with us and her feet are slightly smaller than a coyote. But, these tracks were about 4.5” long. Suspicions confirmed. This was all sign from a local wolf pack.

All this excitement and we hadn’t even started fishing yet! We drilled some holes, set up our little stools and caught a few fish. To start, it was mostly northern pike and bluegill that found our lines, which we released. Madeline awoke from her slumber in the cocoon and joined us to play in the snow and investigate the fish we caught. Once the sun started to fade the crappies hit like a storm! We settled for a few crappie for dinner and headed back.

Time with family in a stunning spot doing what we love with dinner in the bag. What a great day outside. We just love living in Ely!

Of Wolves and Politics

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Edberg, Information Services Director) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 18:27:00 +0000

Why is it that divisive politics have such a hold on wolf management, or any environmental issue, for that matter? The complex reality is that much of wolf management is not about managing wolves at all. It is really people management in wolf’s clothing.

Human societies make rules that maintain structure and order, similar to wolves living in a pack. However, the resources wolves need for survival is very simple: tolerance from humans, habitat and food. Human needs and wants are much more complicated and require more structure.

Humans tend to set rules and customs that facilitate a smooth daily life. Go to work. Be nice to your neighbor, do not kill or steal, pay your bills, and so on. Each human culture has woven a matrix of rules of engagement to manage nearly every encounter, every situation, and every circumstance. Likewise, we make rules to manage wolf populations and the situations wild wolves may encounter.

How then, does politics become involved?

Empty Handed

noreply@blogger.com (Jerritt Johnston, Director of Education) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:56:00 +0000

I received an e-mail a few days back from someone who owns a cabin near Ely who had captured a collared wolf on his neighbor's game camera. In the picture the wolf is clearly wearing a radio collar and is walking away into the woods. He offered to let me head up and take a look in the area for recent wolf sign. I couldn't resist.

We could not determine what collared wolf it was in the photo as multiple packs visit the area at any given time. The date of the photo also doesn't seem to line up with the most likely candidates actually being in the area.

Almost a month has passed since the photo was taken, but I was hopeful that I might still find some sign. Then, it started snowing. While I am excited about the addition of at least five inches of snow, it did not increase my chances of seeing anything. The tracks and sign from the previous wolf activity would almost certainly be covered up. After nearly getting my truck stuck on the extremely steep road into the property, I parked along the road and hiked in.

Almost immediately I found tracks: but they were deer tracks. They looked really fresh and headed along the driveway where the deer were browsing on low plants as they walked. I topped a small hill and two deer bounded into the woods before I could get the camera up for a picture. I would not catch another glimpse, though I would intersect with their paths numerous times.

The possibility of seeing wolf tracks in snow that was still falling was very low, but hope springs eternal, right? So I hiked the trail marked in the woods with my ears open and my eyes peeled. It was a beautiful day in the woods, with very little noise.

I stopped for a moment to listen and consider my path. I was rewarded not with a wolf howl or a deer sighting, but with a pileated woodpecker tapping away at a large Aspen. I know that woodpeckers are all around this area, but like most people I don't spend nearly enough time quietly in the woods to hear and see them. It was a real treat.

I followed the trail a bit further and then turned around and headed back. No wolf sign in the fresh snow, but just in case, I'll check back tomorrow.

Enjoy a few of the pictures from my hike.

A number of deer had passed right by this tree. There were signs of browsing on the small twigs sticking out of the snow.

Fresh deer tracks. Could those be old wolf tracks just to the left?

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Edberg, Information Services Director) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:06:00 +0000

We Saw Wolves, Again!

After spying the two wolves running along the Kawishiwi River a few Saturdays ago during a telemetry flight, (link to past post) we flew on to locate a wolf with a radio collar. We successfully located wolf 7107 of the Moose Lake Pack on a small lake off the Fernberg by using radio telemetry from the airplane.

After observing 7107 walk along the lakeshore and then find a spot on the lake to curl up and rest, we headed back to the airport for the next flight. Hoping 7107 was still on the lake and visible, we headed back for one last look. To our surprise, not only was 7107 still resting on the lake, three other wolves – presumably yearlings based on size and behavior – were chasing and wrestling with each other nearby!

As we circled above, the younger wolves disappeared into the woods and 7107 continued his nap on the lake. On our flight back to the airport, I made the decision to hike into that location with the group for our afternoon outing.

Thinking that the wolf would either be long-gone after two hours or at the very least that he would hear us coming a mile away – literally – and move on, I had expectations of seeing wolf tracks and scat on the lake and in the surrounding forest. An excellent opportunity to discuss wildlife tracking, wolf feeding behavior and habitat use.

We were not exactly a quiet group of seven stumbling through the forest, dodging low branches and tripping over snow-covered logs. The hike in was about a mile over uneven terrain and the temperature was a chilly 5°F (overnight temps had dropped to almost -30°F).

As we neared the boggy lowland that surrounded the lake, we stopped and took a moment to take out our cameras in the hopes we may see a wolf. Inside, I was certain that 7107 had heard us coming at least 20 minutes ago and did not expect to see any sign of life on the frozen lake. On the outside, I was enthusiastic that the group was so excited to have an opportunity to be on the same lake that a wolf had been sleeping on just a few hours ago.

Unbelievably, as we emerged from the thick balsam fir cover, a black spot on the lake was visible. Could it be? No…

Yes!

7107 was STILL resting on the lake in the same spot! I was dumbfounded. I could not believe that we were able to get down to the lake without the wolf being disturbed. This never happens.

We all froze and stared across the lake. 7107 was about 400 yards away curled up in a furry ball facing the opposite direction. The wind had picked up and snow was falling, likely the reason why 7107 had not heard or smelled us coming as we were downwind.

Not wanting to disturb or harass the wolf, we quietly took pictures and video. Sharing a pair of binoculars we each watched as his chest rose and fell with each breath.

As we shifted in place, a stick snapped and 7107 lifted his head. As he scented the wind, his head turned toward us.

Busted.

He slowly rose and stretched his long legs then stood and stared in our direction. He didn’t seem to be concerned with our presence. He walked forward a few yards toward the forest, stopped, stretched again and stared at us.

After about 30 seconds, he shook his body, sending snow flying, and then casually trotted off the lake into the woods.

From there we hugged the opposite side of the lakeshore from where 7107 had disappeared into the woods investigating the tracks and scat left behind.

It is rare that one is able to see a wild wolf on the ground in Minnesota. Typically, it is all about being in the right place at the right time when a wolf crosses the road or travels across a frozen lake.

This day, we were lucky.

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Edberg, Information Services Director) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:06:00 +0000

We Saw Wolves!

A few Saturdays ago, I took six adventurous souls out into the Superior National Forest for the day to learn about field biology. We began our day at 7:00 a.m. with copious amounts of coffee and apple Danish in hand as we got to know each other and went over the day’s plans.

We spent the morning engaged in the fine details of using radio telemetry equipment. However, no matter how adept you are at using the equipment, if the wolves aren’t around, it does no good. We spent two hours trying to locate one, just one, wild wolf fitted with a radio collar with no luck. But, hey, that’s part of the deal when trying to locate animals on the ground in the winter with 6 to 10 inches of snow in a national forest with few roads.

Thankfully, our pilot, Rick, was ready at the Ely airport to take us up in his small-engine Cessna 172 outfitted with telemetry antennae on each strut. We charted a course to seek out the Slate and Mitawan Lake packs south and east of the airport.

The first flight was a bust. While two participants eagerly scanned the ground 1,000 feet below us for signs of wildlife, I was manning the receiver. I was only picking up faint signals that seemed to go in and out. I was frustrated and confused. Upon landing, Rick and I realized that the coaxial cable connecting the receiver to the antennae was loose and worn – the likely cause for the faint and intermittent signals. I had even checked the receiver with a dummy collar positioned on the fence at the airport before we left. Blasted!

After fixing the cable issue, we took the second group of participants up and chose a different route toward Fernberg Road (referred to as “the Fernberg”) east of Ely towards Moose Lake pack territory. On the way as we flew over a part of the Kawishiwi River someone spotted something.

“Two wolves! Two wolves running up the river!”

The participants in the backseat had zoned in on two moving dots on the river and recognized them as canids rather than deer. While I had my nose buried in the map trying to make sure I had the correct wolf collar frequency for the location we were flying over, my participants were searching for any sign of movement.

The two wolves, both gray in color, were trotting toward a wooded edge of the river periodically stopping to look back. About 300 yards behind them was a group of Wintergreen dogsledders about to cross a portage onto the wolves’ section of the river. Based on their body language, the wolves were not comfortable with the three dog teams heading their way. With tucked tails the two wolves disappeared into the forest.

It’s not often that I take a group up in the air and we find wolves without the aid of radio collars. I took this as a reminder that wolf research is not just about looking where the wolf should be; it’s also about looking where the wolf might be.

Check back next week for what happened later that day when we hiked in to a lake where we had observed a collared wolf later during that same flight.

Film review: "The Grey" nominated for the International Wolf Center’s 2012 Scat Award

noreply@blogger.com (Carissa Winter, Web Specialist) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:22:00 +0000

Note: From time to time, we will invite guest bloggers to post on Wild Bytes. Nancy Jo Tubbs, International Wolf Center board chair, recently watched The Grey and has written this movie review.

"The Grey" nominated for the 2012 Scat Award

The Grey is a monster movie-dark, depressing, and as accurate a portrayal of wolf behavior as King Kong was about gorillas.

The Center is not only nominating The Grey for its first ever Scat Award in the Scare Tactics and Silly Information categories, it’s encouraging blog readers to respond and add to the list of incidents of misinformation we found in the film.

Some movie critics have appreciated the action flick that opened January 27 for its grit or panned it for its schmaltzy man-bonding moments and ambiguous ending. Pro-wolf folks seem to dislike this movie the same way herpetologists probably reacted to Snakes on a Plane and marine biologists hated Jaws. Wolf organizations offended by the portrayal of the wolf as a relentless human-hunting machine are encouraging a boycott and slamming actor Liam Neeson for playing the main character, wolf hunter John Ottway. The International Wolf Center likes to take an educational approach, even to movies.

The overriding problem with The Grey is that the wolves are portrayed as “man-killers,” when the incidence of wolves killing humans in North America is so rare as to garner huge headlines. Two cases have been documented—a 2005 killing by wolves in Saskatchewan and a 2010 death near Chignik Lake, Alaska.

A wolf trapper who provided four wolf carcasses to the production was quoted in British Columbia’s online news source, The Province, as saying about his own meetings with wolves in the wild, “I think they’ve always been curious, you know: What am I doing? I never really felt threatened by them. I’ve seen them watching me from, I don’t know, 75 feet away and then as soon as you look at them they take off.”

Much of the misinformation about wolves in the film comes from the dialogue. Ottway, is guiding seven reprobate oil riggers, survivors of a plane crash, out of the Alaskan wilderness while fighting off a pack wolves that kill the men, one by one. He’s a professional hunter who sounds like an expert, but spouts nonsense, like when he says that wolves have a territory of about 300 square miles and hunt in only about 30 of them. “Fact check: Wolves hunt throughout their territory, and in Alaska that can vary from 300 to 1,000 square miles.

If that sounds nitpicky, consider that central to the plot is Ottway’s pronouncement in this winter saga that the wolves (and now the men) are worried that the humans might encroach on the wolves’ den and would be killed as intruders. Fact check: Wolves den only in the spring in order to bear and raise their pups, and then only for 8-10 weeks. By fall, the pack is on the move.

Most laughable is the assertion by Ottway that the alpha of the pack sent an omega in to attack one of the men gathered around a fire. Fact check: While anthropomorphizing—attributing human characteristics to non-human things or animals—can be fun, it’s rarely true. Low-ranking wolf or not, it wouldn’t have attacked on any other wolf’s “instructions.”

Further, even the terms “alpha” and “omega” in regards to wolves are outdated. Those in the know now refer to the pack as a “family social unit.” The parents are the “breeding pair,” The others in the pack are pups, or yearlings if they are offspring from the prior year, and might be referred to as “subordinate males or females.”

Under the just plain “silly” category is the ludicrous depiction of seven weakened crash survivors outrunning a pack of wolves in knee-deep snow. Wolves’ feet are especially adapted to run over difficult terrain, such as snow. Given the fact that they can reach speeds of up to 38 mph., our intrepid survivors had a better chance of being rescued by Santa Claus.

We might also note what is missing from the film: Evidence of the wolf’s prey species. These huge, healthy wolves must have been feeding on caribou, deer or moose, but until we see carcasses at the very end, the movie leads us to believe that the humans in the picture are their only possible source of food.

This movie’s wolves are over-sized, hyper-relentless, emitting howls and deep bass growls at appropriately dramatic moments, cued by the director and amplified by the best surround-sound system Hollywood could afford—sans Jurassic Park. But that’s what makes this movie a horror flick and sets a bead of sweat sliding down the back of the viewers’ neck. These are King Kong wolves, Godzilla wolves—not the real deal.

A film review by Brad Wieners in Outside magazine put it well when he said, “We’re talking hand-to-hand combat with animatronic wolves that behave less like canines than like frenzied barracuda.”

In fact, The Grey used sophisticated puppetry and computer-generated images for its wolf scenes. The only animal that looks real and portrays the kind of wolf behavior one is likely to experience is a wolf seen trotting off in the distance.

Movie-goers who like to be scared out of their socks in the theater probably won’t pick up on the wacky wolf information being conveyed, but here at the Center we hope that later they’ll learn enough about real wolf behavior so they’re not scared to take a walk in the winter woods.

What is the Scat Award?

New in 2012, the Center will name the movies, advertisements and other promotional media that represent the best of the worst witless, whoppers of wolf hooey. Stay tuned this time next year when Oscar season rolls around to hear how The Grey fared in this Scat Award competition of misdirected, misbegotten, mischievous misrepresentation.

How much misinformation can you find in The Grey?

Help us with The Grey fact check. We hope you will comment here to educate others about the misinformation you found when watching the movie. You can use the Center’s Web site to learn about the real wolf and add to your arsenal of wolf facts about wolves in Alaska and around the world. Go to www.wolf.org.

—By Nancy Jo Tubbs

Wilderness Survival

noreply@blogger.com (Tara Johnson) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:46:00 +0000

If you would like to explore the natural world more than you already do, want to share nature with children or if you are an avid adventurer, this post is for you. All this talk about spending time outside in the last few posts has got me thinking….

It was a cold winter night, our fifteen month old was finally asleep and my husband, Peter, and I sat down on the couch to watch a film that we had had on our list for quite some time, 127 hours. The movie is based on a true story about a young man who went out into the wild for some exploration, as he had many times in the past, and literally got stuck in a life threatening situation.

Peter and I sat there with jaws wide open as this young man got his hand wedged between a rock and the wall of a canyon. He tried what he could to release himself... he pulled desperately at his arm, he tried to lift the rock and he chipped away at the rock with his knife. At one point, I looked over at Peter and his eyes were huge, he was holding his breath and he was pulling nervously at his bottom lip. He was stressed and the story had nothing to do with him. Or did it?

To complicate matters, the movie’s character had not told anyone where he was going or when he should be expected back home. He was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place with no hope of rescue. The “moral of the story” message to me was: Always tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return.

Both Peter and I are both comfortable in the outdoors and enjoy escaping into the greenery of the woods when we have free time. However, we have also caught ourselves in situations, that because of circumstances outside our control, we ended up relying on someone that we told about our plan and location for the day. These situations can happen to anyone no matter his or her skill or comfort level in the natural world. We all need reminders.

Regardless of how busy life gets or how light we want to pack our bags–there are some survival axioms that should not be compromised:

1. Always tell someone your plan (where you are going, what you will be doing and when that person should expect you back).

2. Travel with someone.

3. Wear appropriate clothing (for the weather, terrain and activity).

4. Pack for both adequacy and potential mishaps such as getting lost or colder than usual weather (map and compass/GPS, extra clothing, warm layer, rain jacket/trash bag, first aid kit, water and purification system, non-perishable food, pocket knife, waterproof matches, space blanket, mirror (signaling), flashlight or headlamp, whistle, sunscreen/glasses/hat and bug spray).

5. Know the area where you are going and check the weather before leaving for the trip.

6. If you get lost, stay calm and stay put.

These considerations sparked an excellent discussion at home the other night, in which Peter reminded me how important it is to practice. Practicing survival techniques may help you stay calm in an emergency situation. For example, pack what you believe you would need for a variety of survival situations, hit up a nearby park and allow yourself to get comfortable with survival skills before you are faced with a backcountry situation.

What would you add to our list based on your life experiences?

--

Eager to learn more? Check out:

Books: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and Lost in the Wild by Cary J. Griffith.

The film: 127 hours (This movie does have some graphic scenes and may not be fit for young audiences. Please use discretion.).

Websites: National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Wilderness Medical Associates (WMA) and Nature Skills.

The YouTube video: “How to Make an Alcohol Stove – Step by Step” (This video has great directions. The music is used as a filler and is not necessary. Feel free to listen without sound if desired.).

Kids in the Woods: What do You Think?

noreply@blogger.com (Jerritt Johnston, Director of Education) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:15:00 +0000

There are few experiences I enjoy more than introducing young people to the natural world. Whether it is a city park or a wilderness area, seeing a kid’s eyes light up with discovery is a tremendous joy. Since I began leading others into the woods nearly twenty years ago, I have engaged in an internal struggle and a good-natured debate with colleagues: Is it more important to teach students scientifically accurate information, or to let them explore and hypothesize, even if they might reach the wrong conclusion?

It obviously isn’t a true either/or choice, but on nearly every occasion I have led young people outside, this dilemma has popped up at some point. Here’s one example: Last winter my wife and I took our kids—ages three and seven at the time—out to look for animal tracks in the fresh fallen snow. It was a wonderful night, clear, cold and windy. We each had our own headlamp, and we walked a ski trail by our house. We saw tracks of all kinds; hare, squirrel, fox and vole. Near the end of the walk we even saw a wolf print. Our daughter in particular was extremely excited about the trip.

At one point she stopped and said, “Dad! Dad! Come here. I found a great one.” Looking down, there was a really interesting pattern in the snow, a number of little depressions, scattered around a small area. She took great care in pointing to each of the depressions and then said she thought it was a squirrel. So I had a choice.

I could either tell her that she was wrong, and that the depressions were caused by snow being blown off the branches above, or I could support her inquisitiveness and allow her to believe the tracks were created by a squirrel. As I have done literally hundreds of times before, I said “Awesome find! Those might have been made by squirrels, let’s go find some more.” For the next 20 minutes I was pulled from one spot to another with squeals of delight as she found more “squirrel” tracks.

Now maybe I should have corrected her and given her the accurate explanation. She and many of the students I have worked with over the years might have been better served by that approach. But here’s why I didn’t do it. I hope she has decades of outdoor exploration and learning ahead of her. At some point she will figure out what really causes those patterns in the snow. I hope she will learn to accurately interpret and label most things she comes across outside.

But in my work, the traits I most often hope to instill are the thrill of discovery and the willingness to draw conclusions based on the available information. If students are quickly corrected and given the “right” answer as they explore the natural world, they will be missing out on the sense of wonder and the independence that many of us feel in natural surroundings. They may begin to believe the outdoors are just another classroom setting where the stakes are high and the room for error is small. They may be less willing to take positive risks in learning environments inside and out, and that is something none of us can afford. I think I will continue to give accurate information, but support the eager learning attitude, even when it might lead to an overpopulation of “squirrels.”

What do you think?

How did I get here?

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Edberg, Information Services Director) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:49:00 +0000

If you were to ask me 10 years ago what I thought my life would be like, I would have presented you with a snapshot of a life that is nothing like what I am living today.

My love for the outdoors and wildlife competed strongly with my passion for horses when deciding a career path, but a fresh 18 year-old doesn’t always know what will make them happy in the long run. I ended up choosing the path that led to agriculture rather than wildlife.

I will spare you the details of the series of events 11 years ago that launched my new fate. That is perhaps for another blog post. At the end of that year, I found myself a low-paid, over-qualified, living-with-my-dad, can’t-find-work-in-my-field member of society. While working at one of my two, unfulfilling part-time jobs I realized that I had had enough.

So, naturally, I decided to explore my passion for wildlife and set out searching for graduate programs studying forest carnivores. Email after email went out as I studied for the GRE. One day, I received a reply from a professor specializing in wolves. My hopes fell when I read that his waiting list for taking graduate students was two years long. I thought, “Is this normal? What is so special about wolves?”

He recomended an internship position he had an opening for live-trapping whitetail deer and tracking wolves as a way to gain experience and increase my marketability in the grad program search. It sounded like good advice, as I had little field experience related to wildlife. With my hopes falling daily, I wanted to see if this new path was worth thousands of additional dollars spent on schooling.

Turns out, my new internship supervisor, Dr. L. David Mech (pronounced Meech), was pretty well known. My Dad even owned one of his books. Confidence in my choice swelled and my preparations for moving to Ely for the winter began with excitement. I would settle for wolves if it meant I could then move on to my true love, pine martens.

Ten years later, reflecting on my experience as a field technician intern for Dr. Mech (winter 2002, fall 2002) and an education internship (Jan-June 2003) at the International Wolf Center, I can’t imagine my life any other way.

Internships changed my life. As a mid-twenty-something college graduate 10 years ago, I had been pessimistic that I would find any affordable way to change my career. The short duration of the position meant if the job wasn’t a good fit, I wasn’t stuck. Couple that with the incredible amount of information I absorbed, internships satisfied my need to branch out and explore what really fit for me. The pay was sufficient to cover student loan payments, food and the occasional social outing.

All too often, I feel that adults get stuck in a rut once they find a job that they can tolerate which pays the bills and then some. My message to people in that place is to take a chance. Internships are an opportunity to dip your toes into a new career path and possibly find something that is fulfilling and motivates you to learn more. At the very least, you may discover a new skill or passion, make new friends and have a new life experience to build on.

Here are a few suggestions to get you started thinking about if an internship is right for you:

Internjobs.com

Wildlife and Fisheries Internships Job Board

MN State Parks Internships/Seasonal Work

Wolf Education Internships

Skype on Steroids

noreply@blogger.com (Tara Johnson) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:11:00 +0000

Skype. Many of us have heard of it and maybe even tried it once or twice with a computer and webcam or our smart phone. Seeing the faces of those you are communicating with can make a world of difference in a conversation. Subtle communication strategies like facial expressions and body language help make conversation more meaningful. Without them, it is easy to misinterpret another’s intent. These strategies are just as important while learning.

Videoconferencing is like Skype on steroids. Often, the video connection is as clear as if you were standing in the same room as the person you are talking to in the crisp HD quality we have come to expect with technology.

I have to be honest, at first when I was given the responsibility to lead the videoconferencing program for the International Wolf Center I was a bit skeptical about the method. The heart of what I was taught in teaching was that the best experience for kids is when they go to a place and experience it. To me this meant hands-on learning outside. Watching a bobbing head on a television screen inside a classroom was boring and didn’t even compete with a movie. How would this be engaging life-changing learning for kids?

Fast forward a few months. Groups were signing up for programs from states like Wisconsin, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan and New York. These participants couldn’t afford to visit the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN with their limited budgets. However, they still wanted the experience of learning about and seeing wolves. Through observing students in programs I was able to see first-hand how fun videoconferencing could be. Participants were playing games, plotting out wolf locations from real radio collared wolves living in or near their area, acting out skits, touching props like wolf pelts and deer antlers, having controversial discussions about their opinions on management, using art to express their learning and asking questions to a wolf expert. Participants were actually engaged, making connections and learning things!

As a classroom teacher by trade, I know how little time, money and resources educators have to prepare lessons. These videoconferencing programs are less expensive than a field trip, easy to register for online, taught by another teacher, include all the preparation materials and extensions for pre and post-activities. It seems like a no-brainer, right? Three years later, I am still convinced that videoconferencing programs are an effective strategy that should be utilized by teachers across the globe.

Here at the Center, I am able to offer this engaging technology to a wide variety of audiences. Our videoconferencing programs are available to schools, colleges or universities, nature centers, zoos, nursing homes, home-school groups, hospitals, libraries or any location with videoconferencing equipment.

Our content meets state and national standards in lively presentations that are developmentally appropriate and interactive. We also employ other capabilities such as cameras with a live feed for observation of our ambassador wolves “in action” in their naturalized habitat and a document camera to view real artifacts like pelts, skulls and scat make videoconferencing leaps and bounds above the rest.

Through a grant from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund we are able to offer FREE videoconferencing programs to schools in Minnesota through 2013. Participants receive one program of their choice and a Wolf Loan Box rental (2 weeks) with their registration. Programs paid for through the grant are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. These programs are available to groups outside of Minnesota as well.

How do I sign up?

Don’t have the equipment? Check with your local university, library or government center to see if you can use their equipment. Many offer this service free or for a reduced fee. You may also contact Technology Information Education Services (TIES)or Video Guidance about rental equipment options in Minnesota.

If you are curious about incorporating other forms of technology the International Wolf Center has to offer, check out some of these resources:
• Wolf Cams
• Wolf Logs
• Wolf Video
• Podcasts
• Online Curriculum
• Gray Wolves, Gray Matter Curriculum (free PDF)
• Track wolves like a biologist

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for ways to utilize these tools in posts to come. Happy New Year!

Success!

noreply@blogger.com (Jerritt Johnston, Director of Education) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:24:00 +0000

This is the final installment of a three part series, which details the efforts to retrieve a radio-collared wolf that died in the fall of 2010. The first four attempts were covered in the most recent blog posts.

On Foot

At some point this story has to end, right? After our attempts in February, to find wolf 989 we had decided to let the wolf stay where it was. But then March came to the Ely area, and with it spectacular weather and melting snow.

I decided to give it one more try. On Saturday, March 26, I set out with two friends on a spectacular day. Brilliant blue skies, warm sun and no snow on the lakes made for fast going. The winter had been cold and long, and although the temperatures on this day would reach the mid-30’s, there was still nearly three feet of ice on the lakes on which we traveled.

We hiked out to the location between Bald Eagle and Turtle Lakes an hour faster than we had been able to ski the same 6 mile distance. Between faster travel and longer days, time would not be a limiting factor on this trip.

We walked right up to the wolf’s location and were getting strong signals with the radio telemetry unit. We checked the high area, we checked the low area and we even climbed down to a rock ledge and into a large crack that feasibly could hold a wolf.

There were signs of other animals in the area this time and speculation flew around about what might have happened to the wolf’s body. We shoveled significant amounts of snow to be certain we weren’t missing anything. No luck. After about an hour and a half of looking, we decided that the wolf—or possibly just the collar—was buried in the snow and ice.

By Canoe

Feeling a bit like Captain Ahab at this point, I wanted just one more look after the ice went out on the lakes and the snow melted. My wife, Molly, and I connected with students from Outward Bound who needed to complete a service project to successfully finish their course.

They agreed to paddle with us and help us look for the wolf. It was a wonderful day for a paddle and the students, teenagers from all over the United States, were a joy to paddle with. Unfortunately, the outcome was the same. The signal was still strong and it appeared to be at the base of the cliff. Despite much crawling around and checking in very small spaces we could not locate the wolf.

Wolf 989 would remain where he died. Or so I thought.

Success!

In early October I received an e-mail from Dr. Shannon Barber-Meyer, the wolf biologist with the USGS wolf-deer study. The subject of the e-mail was “Wolf 989’s story ends.” Two field technicians for the project made a final attempt and found the wolf.

It was located in the large crack that we had looked around and into numerous times, but was all the way at the bottom. During the winter it had been covered in snow. One of the technicians, Hans Martin, climbed all the way down into the crack—an extremely tight space—and brought wolf 989 out for inspection. (See pictures). The technicians also found part of the shoulder and some tufts of hair up on the ledge above the crack. They then took measurements, brought the skull back for inclusion in on-going research. They brought the collar back as well, to put it back in use in the future. (Photo: Hans Martin)

Now the question became, “How did the wolf get there?” Though we will never know the answer, a number of theories were discussed and debated. Did it die above the crack and then slide down into it with the snow? Was it chasing prey and slip unintentionally into the crack, leaving it unable to get out? Did it die up on the ledge and get carried down into the crack by a scavenger? Each one of those possibilities has supporting and contradictory evidence.

What did I Learn?

Being an educator, I immediately began to think about the lessons learned from this effort. To be sure, I gained experience in winter travel by ski and by dog team. I learned a little more about the use of radio telemetry equipment in the field and I got the chance to travel with some excellent people in a variety of conditions.

I also learned that any preconceived notions of the romance and glamour of the life of a field biologist might need to be adjusted to meet reality. Harsh weather conditions, challenging physical efforts and the disappointment associated with not achieving the task at hand are just some of the many obstacles they face. I’ll definitely offer to assist in retrieval efforts in the future hope to be able to share some of those experiences in this space as well.