What's Happening at the GWDC

Happy December! Hope your Thanksgiving was happy, and that your holiday season is off to a rollicking start! Before you know it, we'll be wishing you a Happy New Year and tempting you to plan your summer vacation to visit us in West Yellowstone! It goes quickly, doesn't it?

If you're thinking of heading this way 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.

Christmas for the Critters also begins soon. What IS Christmas for the Critters, you ask? Well, every year we set up collection bins in the Gift Shop and collect all sorts of goodies for the bears and wolves. Help make the holidays more joyful by donating spices and extracts, peanut butter, unsalted nuts, jams, and especially raisins and other dried fruits, for the enrichment of the bears and wolves. Want to REALLY make a Critter's Christmas? Bring in an extra large Kong toy. Bring in your donation and we will give you $1.25 off an adult regular admission, 10% off any gift shop purchase and tons of gratitude! See the coupon at the bottom of the newsletter for an added bonus! To ensure the safety of the animals please bring only unopened items.

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

As usual, we have great news about the animals this issue. We wouldn't have it any other way. The animals have been keeping the keepers busy, and all is well behind the scenes and on the habitats.

Next week will bring a change to animal schedules. Late wolf enrichment will change to 3:00, and we will begin offering the wolves one large enrichment item weekly, which is an interesting and stimulating alteration to diet and behavior.

The bear schedule will change slightly as well, and we anticipate putting 101, Coram, Grant and Roosevelt out together for the first time. Introducing more bears to each other in the outdoor habitat in many different groupings allows natural behaviors and social dynamics to play out. 

 

All the birds are now off-exhibit. Though the temperatures today soared to 38 degrees, the raptors are all indoors in comfortable newly renovated mews for the winter. 

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.

Trent and AJ have been on the road recently while Andreina and Sarah have been holding down the fort. Trent visited Carroll College in Helena last week, and AJ took a trip to Stone, Idaho. Both outreach experiences were tremendous.

Trent met with students in the the Anthrozoology Program at Carroll College. This major explores the unique relationship between humans and animals. By increasing our knowledge about this bond and by assessing how animals enrich our lives, we can improve the quality of life for both humans and animals. Carroll College's unique experiential approach provides students with both scientific and academic rigor and the hands-on application of the knowledge gained. Interns and graduates of this program are extremely effective in many animal-related roles, including interpretation and naturalist positions. Along with former interns Camus and Caelen, Trent spoke with students to promote the GWDC and to recruit interns for next summer's programming here at the Center.

AJ visited the kindergarten - 3rd grade classes of Stone Elementary School in southern Idaho, and met enthusiastic students, teachers, and even the Superintendent of Schools. AJ kept everyone busy with bird presentations and owl pellets. Raptor dress-up looks like it was especially fun.

Meanwhile, Andreina has been dreaming up some of the coolest experiments you've ever seen for our own West Yellowstone After School Enrichment students. She has a standing date with these youngsters every Wednesday afternoon. After a few sessions on polymers and mixtures (Slime and Oobleck!) they have moved on to colors, prisms, and light. Great work everyone. And, just this morning the Careers Class from West Yellowstone High School visited the Center. We have quite a few future scientists coming our way!

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

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 Richard Trahan

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.

"Art is science made clear." Jean Cocteau

Follow us and see more great photos on Facebook... 

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 and peaceful holiday season!

 

 

The GWDC Staff