Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Great Adventure 2011 Montana – 7/31/11

001For more pictures, click HERE

I woke up early because I heard the wind howling and the rain pouring down. After I got up and tried to read my Ipad in the dark, I decided to go sit outside in my lawn chair. The rain and wind stopped and the sky looked like it was on fire! I was able to sit outside and knit while I listened to podcasts. When Don woke up, we checked out of our room and drove into Babb for breakfast. On the way back we hiked around Swiftcurrent Lake and looked for wildlife. The wind picked up while we were hiking and it felt like a fall day. After our hike, we stopped and had a picnic. In the afternoon we checked into our cabin and then joined the ranger on a nature hike which was wonderful. After the hike we came back to our cabin to relax before going to the restaurant and having a pizza. After dinner we went to hear the ranger talk about bears.

What I Learned Today:

· There is 1 species of salamander in the park and 4 frog species.

· The Calliope Hummingbird nest we saw was made from lichens, moss, and spider webs.

· Talking and making noise is the best way to let a bear know you are near.

· Human mother’s milk is about 3% fat and grizzly bear mother’s milk is 33% fat.

· The bears mate in the spring and is “almost pregnant.” If the conditions are right and the mother is in good shape, she is pregnant in November and the cub(s) are born in January or February.

· Black bear cubs stay for one summer and are kicked out the next. Grizzly bear cubs stay for 3 summers.

· Black bears get pregnant every other summer and grizzly bears every 3rd year.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Photo: by Pat Hensley

1 comment:

Sioux Roslawski said...

The "almost pregnant" part I had never heard of. How fascinating.