What's Happening at the GWDC

Photo by Steve Bell

Happy holidays to you! We hope you have a wonderful, peaceful, and delicious Thanksgiving tomorrow, and that you're all geared up for the shopping holidays that follow. If you think it's funny that a shopping day called "Black Friday" is now considered a holiday, believe us: you are not alone. On the heels of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas always seem to arrive before we know it, and then all of a sudden, it's 2013! Not that you needed us to tell you the holidays have arrived, but now that they're here, we hope they're terrific.

Work on the amphitheater and bear kitchen continue. The mild weather has allowed us to dig and pour the foundation on the bear kitchen, and work will continue inside the building all winter. With holes drilled in the amphitheater for mounting the benches, we will do just that if a warm weather window presents itself; otherwise the benches will be mounted in the Spring, and our amphitheater will be ready for action. We will definitely keep you posted on all our projects as we make progress!

Thanksgiving week marks the Yellowstone Ski Festival here in West Yellowstone. The mild weather is not doing the skiers any favors, but everyone is making the best of low snow conditions. We hope to see many festival-goers over the next few days here at the Center.

If you're heading to our area in December, please join us for the Christmas Bird Count on Sunday, December 16th. In conjunction with the Sacajawea Audubon Society in Bozeman, the GWDC sponsors this annual event every December. The Christmas counts, started in 1900, are an opportunity for beginning and expert birders to get together and enjoy this holiday tradition. Enjoy a day of birding in the West Yellowstone/Hebgen Lake area! Meet at the Center at 8:30 a.m., and participate by car, snowmobile, skis or snowshoes. If you don't want to be out in the cold, you can still participate by letting us know the number and species of birds at your bird feeder.

 Read more about the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center...

We have great news about the animals this issue. Well, don't we always?

We told you in the last issue about the relatively uneventful introduction of the youngest and the oldest bears here at the GWDC. Grant, Roosevelt, and Sow 101 successfully spent time together in the outside habitat over the last couple weeks, learning about social cues and appropriate interactions. With minimal excitement, all three bears have taken to sharing the habitat and the time outside in a peaceful and very natural manner.

WELL, last Wednesday the yearlings were introduced to Coram, who at four years old is still considered a sub-adult. With their newly learned social skills, Grant and Roosevelt approached Coram gently, and after a sniff or two, the three bears were off and playing - running, rolling, tugging, pawing, gnawing, and running again - across the habitat and back again. You have never seen such playful, social, entertaining behavior. It was truly amazing to watch. These three are still playing every time they are out on the habitat together, and it still gives us goosebumps to watch them go.

All is well with the wolves and the birds-of-prey. We continue to enrich the wolf habitats with new and interesting aromas, specialty food items, and bones. Recent donations from hunters and meat processors have provided some wonderful surprises for the wolves. The raptors in the aviaries except for Tegan are still on display thanks to the mild weather,  and the new eagles are adjusting nicely to their new indoor environment.

Every issue of our email newsletter will have updates on our animals, and we will still be sending quarterly newsletters through the mail. We know it's not the people who draw you to the GWDC, as neat as we are, so we'll keep you posted on the reason we're all here: the bears, wolves, and birds.

Just in case you thought the Education Team has been taking it easy now that our winter schedule has kicked in, think again! Beyond their regular interpretation and informative presentations, our crew is busy with all sorts of educational programming.

This week is West Yellowstone's Ski Festival, which draws over 3500 skiers from around the US and Canada. For over 30 years, visitors have flocked to West Yellowstone during Thanksgiving week for a series of Nordic skiing clinics, SuperTour races, Biathlon races, the On Snow Gear Demo, an Indoor Ski Show, and a variety of presentations, clinics, and classes. What sort of presentations you ask? Well, every day this week the GWDC staff have fun and educational activities scheduled for kids K-6 in our theater on topics such as predators and owl pellets, and last night Trent ventured over to the festival headquarters for a very well-attended presentation featuring live raptors from here at the Center! Many of us are signed up as race volunteers over the next few days. We welcome Ski Festival participants to West Yellowstone and to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center.

AJ just returned from the National Association of Interpretation's national workshop in Virginia, where she learned all sorts of interesting things. The NAI is a professional organization dedicated to advancing the profession of natural interpretation, currently serving about 5,000 members in the United States, Canada, and over thirty other nations. AJ attended sessions on training staff, interns, and working with high school students, and especially enjoyed a workshop on helping classroom teachers incorporate core standards into the curriculum.

If you're interested in visiting the GWDC with your students, or if you'd like to sponsor a Teaching Trunk or outreach program, let us know. One of the Center's naturalists can visit your school for special assemblies, programs or activities. As you know, some of our birds-of-prey can travel for such programs as can our large collection of wolf and bear artifacts. We will customize the program or the Teaching Trunk for your group and areas of special interest.

Learn more about the GWDC Education programs... 

Developments

New and Exciting Opportunities to Support the GWDC

Photo by Tim Denny

Thanks again for all you do. We look forward to hearing from you soon! 

 

 

Photographs and Artwork from the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center

Photo by Christine Segelken

We are honored to have many artists and photographers visit and support the GWDC. Their vision and talents inspire and enliven our work here, so we thought it would be nice to feature some of their work in every issue of our newsletter. If you'd like to see your artwork here, send us an image! Paintings, sculptures, and mixed media are welcome too.

"The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity." Walt Whitman

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We hope you enjoyed this issue, learned a little something, and felt like you were here with us for just a few minutes. It's a pretty special place to be. We hope you have a great couple of weeks, and make plans to come see us soon.

We are truly thankful for you this season. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

 

The GWDC Staff