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I Wish I could hibernate

2/25/2015

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Right about this time every winter when the cold still lingers and the snowflakes keep falling, I begin to wish that I could hibernate the rest of the winter away like the bears do. Wouldn’t it be marvelous to take a nap for 100 days straight . . . to never need to get up to eat, to go to the bathroom, or to exercise? We would become quite the couch potatoes by the time spring rolled around if we lived that way too!

Last month a movie called Paddington came out. It chronicles the adventures of a bear that travels from his home in darkest Peru to find a new place to live in London. Paddington is a type of bear called the spectacled bear and is the only bear native to South America. To learn more about bears and hibernation, we can look a little closer to home. North America is home to several species of bear: the black bear, the brown (or grizzly) bear, and the polar bear. 
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The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is probably the most common, with a population of around 600,000 individuals. The way black bears hibernate each winter depends largely upon where they live. When cold weather rolls around, the black bears in Northern Minnesota typically have very few food sources left. They have adapted to an earlier hibernation beginning in September or October. However, black bears in more eastern ranges have adapted to later hibernation beginning in November or December because in early winter, some food is still available to them.

In early autumn, after the bear has fattened itself up as much as possible, it is time to begin building its den. The bear rakes leaves, twigs and other bedding material into a den that it often digs out of the earth with its claws. It makes its enclosure very tight, with just enough room to squeeze in. This helps it retain more heat during the cold winter. During this autumn period, the bear’s body begins to transition to get ready for hibernation. Its metabolic rate and heart rate slow down considerably. 

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A black bear begins preparing for hibernation in late summer in a period called hyperphagia. This is a period of excessive eating and drinking. In other words, it’s an all a bear can eat buffet! It eats as many carbohydrate-rich berries and nuts as it can get its claws on. It is not uncommon for a bear to gain 30 pounds each week during this period of time!
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By the time snow is flying and no food sources are left, the bear is fattened up and cozy in its den ready to hibernate. It rolls into a tight ball with its forepaws over its face to retain as much body heat as possible. The bear’s body is able to do some pretty amazing things during this period of time!

It reduces its breathing to once every 45 seconds, lowers its body temperature to about 88 degrees Fahrenheit (about 12 degrees lower than normal), and lowers its heart rate to 8 to 21 beats per minute.

It doesn’t eat, drink, or go to the bathroom, yet it does not get dehydrated or build up toxic waste in its body. Instead, a bear’s body recycles waste from the bladder into usable proteins?

The bear can remain like this for several months, until spring thaw occurs and food sources are available again. 

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One other amazing feature of a black bear’s hibernation is the fact that a mother bear will give birth to her cubs right in the middle of hibernating! Is it possible for a bear to wake up during hibernation? Absolutely! It may just take a little longer than it would to wake up from normal slumber. The mother wakes up to give birth and intermittently wakes up to care for the cubs during the rest of hibernation. Meanwhile, the new cubs, about the size of chipmunk when born, are left to nurse at her side and grow in a safe environment. By the time spring rolls around, they will be strong enough to face the world outside their den.
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In mid-April or early May, black bears wake up from hibernation. If I were a black bear, I would want to run straight to the nearest berry bush and have a feast, wouldn’t you? Actually, it takes about another two weeks for a bear’s metabolism to adjust. When it does begin to eat again, it chooses green shoots, leaves, roots, and grubs that are easier on its empty stomach.


When I look at the big picture of a bear’s hibernation, it’s tempting to think of sleeping the winter away! But just think of how many months you would miss! If you were a bear in Northern Minnesota, you’d miss about 8 months every year! In the end, I think I prefer our human adaptations – bundling up as much as possible! What about you?

How to hibernate like a bear - activity

We may not be able to sleep the winter away, but you can try this fun indoor activity to see what a bear’s hibernation might be like!

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What You’ll Need:
  • Blankets and pillows
  • Bear food (draw it onto cereal boxes and cut it out – be sure to include lots of berries and nuts!)
  • Your imagination!

What to Do:

Pretend that you are a black bear, starting in the summer months and going all through winter hibernation into spring. What will you do in each stage of the year?

1. Summer – You are eating and drinking as much as you possibly can to prepare for upcoming winter!

2. Fall – You are building your den with the pillows and blankets. Make sure to make it big enough to fit into it but small enough that you’ll stay nice and warm!

3. Winter – You are hibernating! Make sure you roll up into a tight ball and put your paws over your nose. If you’re a mother bear, make sure that you wake up every once and a while to take care of your new cubs!

4. Spring – It’s time to wake up from hibernation. Remember, you will be very groggy at first! Take your time waking up. Then, go explore with your new cubs!

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No School!

2/19/2015

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On Monday of this week . . . we had no school! I’m sure that was the thought at the forefront of most of our minds.  Science Explorers offered fun classes that day, but most schools observed a day off from regular routine. Not only that, but banks and the U.S. postal service took a holiday as well. Our day was different because we didn’t have to go to school, couldn’t go into the bank, and found an empty mailbox when we checked it out of habit. I have to wonder how many of us actually thought very much about any of the namesakes of our holiday, the U.S. presidents.  If I’m being honest, I know that I did not.

President’s Day was originally celebrated in honor of our first president, George Washington, whose birthday is later in the month of February. Typically, Abraham Lincoln is also honored on this day. Even though the day was first created to honor just a few of our more well-known presidents, it has come to serve as a day where we can remember all of presidents and their many great accomplishments. Alas, I’m afraid it would take your entire day off to remember all 43 men who served our nation. So, this year I would like to focus on just one man – President Theodore Roosevelt – and what he accomplished in the field of conservation.

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 Theodore Roosevelt was very curious as a young boy and wanted to become a naturalist when he grew up. He collected specimens from the world around him and began contributing them to museums when he was only eight years old! He and his family traveled extensively during his childhood, and he always carried along his naturalist notebook and recorded all his new findings.

After studying natural history at Harvard, he was elected to the New York State Legislature. His avid interest in the natural world continued as he pursued hunting as a hobby. Unlike many other hunters during his day, Roosevelt began to notice the negative effects of overexploitation. Only so much can be taken from the wilderness before it is harmed beyond healing. He helped co-found the Boone and Crockett Club, a unique group of hunters that also studied the game animals and their habitats and discussed their preservation. One of their greatest achievements was the protection of Yellowstone National Park from commercial exploitation.

His political career was kindled by the lobbying and efforts made in Washington D.C. for the protection of Yellowstone. He went on to become our nation’s 26th president, from 1901 to 1909. One of his acts during his early presidency was the protection of shorebirds on Pelican Island in Florida. The demand for plumes for ladies’ hats was wiping out this population of birds, so he created Pelican Island Bird Reservation and ensured their future survival.


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In total, during his time in presidency, Roosevelt protected around 230,000,000 acres of land. He created the U.S. Forest Service, created 51 Federal Bird Reservations, 4 National Game Preserves, 150 National Forests, and 5 National Parks.  Even after his time as president had past, Roosevelt continued exploring and recording information about the natural world around him. He left us a great legacy through his efforts in conservation, just one of the legacies we now celebrate when we take our day off each President’s Day. 

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"We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation." 

Theodore Roosevelt

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"We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune." 

Theodore Roosevelt


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animal affections

2/13/2015

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With Valentine’s Day coming up in just a few days, many people are preparing to show their loved ones how much they care. This preparation looks different for everyone, but here in the United States, loved ones tend to show their affection through cards, candy, and flowers. According to an infographic put together by the History Channel, here are statistics for a typical Valentine holiday in our country:

-          Enough candy hearts are sold each year to stretch back and forth 20                times from Rome, Italy to Valentine, AZ.

-          $8.5 million is spent on sparkling wine.

-          36 million heart-shaped candy boxes are bought.

-          58 million pounds of chocolate are purchased.

-          150 million valentine cards and gifts are sent.

-          $448 million is spent on candy the week prior to the holiday.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate and flowers just as much as the next girl, but my husband knows that the way to my heart is through a potted plant instead. I know it may be a bit quirky, but with my ecology degree, my roots run deep in all things sustainable. A plant that actually has roots and will continue to live will always be my preference. One year, he even bought trees in my honor through an organization called Plant with Purpose!

I’m guessing that most of us appreciate some degree of creativity and personalization from our loved ones. You might be sorely disappointed if given a potted plant. A dentist might be offended if given candy.  Just as we all have unique ways of showing affection, in studying other parts of the natural world, scientists have found that many animals have unique and creative courtship rituals as well. 
We often associate the color red with love. In the animal kingdom, it is often a showy color used in courtship too. A black seabird known as the frigatebird uses a red throat sac to woo females. The males congregate in a group on the ground, stick their beaks up into the air and puff up their bright throat sacs for the perusal of females flying overhead. This is often accompanied by a drumming or whistling sound as the males vibrate their wings at the same time.
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Many other animals also use impressive displays of show and color to attract mates. Consider the flamingo. In a flashy dance-like display, groups of 5,000 to 100,000 flamingos move in unison to attract mates.  You almost wonder how they coordinated that many schedules to find time to rehearse! Shows are often performed solo, as with a tropical bird called the club-winged manakin. The males of this species vibrate their tails while hopping up and down a branch in a fashion that almost looks like a moonwalk.

Animals use color and show, just like we do, but what about the ambiance? Imagine a candlelight dinner on a veranda overlooking a full moon. Yes, that sounds romantic according to our human standards, but did you know that animals like the horseshoe crab practice their courtships around the light of a full moon too? During the high tide of a new or full moon, thousands of horseshoe crabs take their cue and come together on the shore to spawn. 

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We use gifts to show our affection, and so does a family of birds known as bowerbirds. Male bowerbirds create a “bachelor pad” dwelling, usually on the ground, formed from carefully placed sticks. They then prepare to attract a female visitor by filling the dwelling with colorful and unique objects from their habitat. These little tokens could include, flowers, seashells, leaves, berries, or even discarded human objects like pieces of plastic or glass shards.

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We can relate to color and show, ambiance, and gift-giving, but there are some animals out there whose courtship behavior has no human comparison, and that’s probably for the best. The sweet scent of roses or candles might be attractive to us, but the female porcupine uses a different, very unusual, scent to attract her mate – her own urine. She makes markings from her mucus and urine and places them so males from miles around will know she is ready for a relationship. Consider also the bizarre ritual of the praying mantis. After the female of this insect chooses her mate, she eats his head. Now, that has to be record for the shortest relationship out there! In another bizarre relationship, the male deep sea anglerfish bites the female and attaches to her circulatory system in order to share her food. One female can host up to 8 males at once in this way. Perhaps if unattached they worry about finding each other again in the dark ocean depths? 

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Just as you and I like to show and receive affection in our own unique ways, there are thousands of unique courtship examples in the rest of the animal kingdom as well. As we flock to the stores this Valentine’s Day for our candy, cards, and flowers, consider how all these animals show affection without a trip to the store. Take creative inspiration from some of their unique displays, and be thankful we have the candy aisle and flower shops instead of some of their other bizarre behaviors! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

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a day for the groundhogs

2/5/2015

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Groundhog Day

Throughout the year, we have a handful of days on our calendar that we use to commemorate special occasions and people. In January, we celebrated New Year’s Day and Martin Luther King Day. Coming up, in February and March, we will be celebrating Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, and St. Patrick’s Day.

Most often these days celebrate the accomplishments and advancements of important people in history. However, right between our celebration of civil rights advocate Martin Luther King and a celebration originally in honor of St. Valentine, we have named a day in honor of a small brown mammal – a groundhog.

How did this groundhog come to have February 2, named just for him?  Groundhog Day celebrations originally began in Pennsylvania in communities of German origin. First records of this day’s celebration date back to 1841, though similar traditions were celebrated even earlier throughout Europe. Tradition says that when the groundhog emerges from its hole on Groundhog Day morning, one of two things will happen:

1) It will see its shadow and return to his hole for six more weeks of winter.

2) It will not see its shadow, and we will have an early spring.

Can a Groundhog Really Predict the Seasons?

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So, does this furry critter really have credential to make such a forecast?  A groundhog is a rodent belonging to the scientific family Sciuridae. Even though it has “hog” in its name, it actually belongs to a group of ground squirrels known as marmots. Groundhogs have short, strong legs with curved claws, making them excellent diggers. In other words, the groundhog definitely made that hole it crawled out of on Groundhog Day morning! When digging its burrow, it is not uncommon for the groundhog to remove 5,500 pounds of soil in the process! 

While the groundhog may be good at making his burrow, he really is no better than you or I at forecasting weather. Most groundhogs hibernate in their burrows from October through March or April. Only in very mild climates will one emerge from its burrow earlier than the month of March. In Minnesota, you will probably not see a groundhog emerge by Groundhog Day, but if you do see one roaming around in late winter, it is almost certainly a sign that spring is approaching.

A groundhog’s presence might signify that spring is approaching, but what would its shadow tell us? Remember that we see shadows on days that are sunny. You might think that if the day is sunny, doesn’t that mean spring must be on its way? Contrary to how this might seem true, a clear, sunny winter day often suggests that cold Canadian air has come down from the North and settled on our region. If we have a lot of snow on the ground, this cold will stick around longer. Clear skies that give us shadows tell us that winter may actually stick around for a while. You don’t need a groundhog to show you his shadow though. You can step outside yourself to view a clear sky!

According to the solar calendar, Groundhog Day technically marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It falls exactly in the middle of the winter solstice and the equinox. Winter solstice marks the day where we have the least amount of daylight, whereas equinox marks the day where we have equal amounts of daylight and darkness. So, while the solar calendar tells us that spring is approaching, the snow on the ground, the goose bumps on our skin, and the fact that most groundhogs are still in their burrows tells us that it may yet be a while before we can expect flowers to pop up in our gardens.

We won’t be seeing a groundhog announcing the weather on our local news any time soon, but Groundhog Day will continue every year as a fun tradition signifying the passing of the seasons and the eventual emergence of spring!

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