With lows in the teens lately, cold weather means adjusting bird diets and bird exhibits. We are constantly evaluating the health and well-being of the birds, and making changes accordingly. Tegan has been getting slightly larger portions lately. You'll also notice when you visit that we are starting to take birds off exhibit for the winter.

The bears are still in hyperphagia, and continue to slowly gain weight for the winter. They seem especially photogenic in the fall, all filled out with thick glossy coats and the low-tilted autumn light... this time of year it's easy to see how healthy and robust the bears are.

Roosevelt and Grant have reached another milestone. These days they are coming in and going out to the habitat past all the bigger bears, walking comfortably through the den area in a relaxed and well-adapted manner.

 

The last of all of the trees are going in to the habitats now, and the last of the fish have been utilized. Elk bones are currently a big favorite with the wolves. As we move into winter, enrichment will take different forms. 

 

 
With Wolf Awareness Week behind us and the latest Certified Interpretive Guide training course under our belts, the Education team has moved on to researching and writing several interesting articles for our own Howls & Growls newsletter and for the National Association of Interpreters magazine. If you want to learn more about how hibernation has informed several scientific studies for instance, or how the reintroduction of wolves has led to greater berry crops for grizzly bears, stay tuned to our quarterly newsletter. The NAI article may be a little harder to get your hands on, but with an engaging article about how to interpret controversial and potentially emotional issues for visitors (such as wolf reintroduction), you may want to seek it out.

Another way our naturalists are trying to engage and inform folks is with technology. We told you earlier this summer about our new cellphone tour around the Center. This fall brings iPads to our museum and to the viewing areas! We will have a number of activities that visitors can pursue on the tablet computers inside, and the naturalist covering the habitats will carry one for educational purposes outside.

We have school and university groups visiting and a couple of interesting film projects on the calendar, as well as the West Yellowstone After School program to look forward to as the season changes. If you're interested in visiting the GWDC with your family or 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.

We hope you enjoy this issue, learn a little something, and feel like you are here with us for just a few minutes. It's a pretty special place to be. Have a great couple of weeks and a fantastic autumn, and we'll look forward to seeing you soon.

Thanks again for keeping up with us and for all you do.