A Busy Week!

Hello everyone!

First of all, I want to apologize for only publishing one blog last week. Trust me though; I have a very good reason! (I will get to that later). I hope you enjoyed the avalanche info. It was really good for me to learn it with you. I spent last weekend studying avalanche information and practicing with the beacons just in case we get caught in an avalanche. Since Jeff and I are the only ones out here, we would be responsible for each other’s rescues (a scary thought!).

So, you had a few questions for me and now is as good a time as ever to answer them, so here goes. Mrs. Stahl’s class asked what food I miss the most. It sounds boring, but I miss salads and greens. You don’t know what you are missing until you don’t have it anymore! Although, I certainly wouldn’t turn down Pizza Hut! I often daydream about what I am going to eat when I get out of here. I think I will start with a salad then move on to something delicious! I was also asked how my New Year was. Well, it was awesome. Jeff and I had two of our closest friends come out, so we played cards and other fun games. We even went sled riding! Mrs. Collin’s class asked how I am feeling being stuck in the snow. It is beautiful out here and I have lots of stuff to keep me busy, so I am happy. I am frustrated that we haven’t been able to get our mail in three weeks though because of the weather! Luckily, I got all of your wonderful Christmas cards last time I was there. Over Christmas break we had three feet of snow everywhere plus many snow drifts that were several feet tall. It was awesome, but all of the warm weather has melted a lot of snow. There are even bare patches of road visible! Also, I’m not sure when I will be coming home. I will probably work in Glacier for another summer, but I am hoping to have enough time to come home between jobs. Jeff and I were just told this week that they probably won’t plow the road until May 1st!


The weather here has been so warm for the past week (from the mid-thirties to the mid-forties). It is actually very disappointing. We were starting to get some really impressive snow drifts out here. We have lost several feet of snow over the past week, and my ice skating “rink” has melted and been absorbed into the ground. BOO! I am bummed out because I was really looking forward to doing a lot of ice fishing and now the ice is too thin to walk on. Well, it will certainly turn back into winter soon, so I should stop complaining. Jeff and I spent most of Monday over at the hotel working. The wind was mild and the sun peaked though the clouds a few times.


I received an email from John Waller, the wildlife biologist, stating that two of his researchers were coming into the valley to set up the wolverine sites on Tuesday. FINALLY!!! I was excited to finally get to help out so I stayed around the cabin all day waiting for them to show up. The weather was warm but frightful. The wind was very strong and it was raining/snowing most of the day. The sun went down and I assumed that the researchers were not going to make it in that day. Then, at 6:30 pm there was a knock on the door and they were here! Thankfully, Eric and Leah accepted our offer to stay with us in our cabin. It is so wonderful to have company, especially when we don’t expect it!


Wednesday, Eric, Leah, and I headed out in the morning to start setting up the sites. We spent most of the day out, snowshoeing to the three different sites. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining and the wind was mild. The only bummer was that we couldn’t just ski across the lakes. Thursday, we set up the other two sites. Thursday was not such a nice day. The temperature was 36 degrees but the wind was very strong and very icy. We spent two full hours at our fourth site completely exposed to the brutal winds. But, it was worth it. The study sites are all set, and now all we have to do is wait for the wolverines to find the bait. Plus, on the way to the last site, we saw a pack of six wolves way up on the side of Mt. Altyn. I only saw them for a couple of seconds before they dropped to the other side of the ridge, but it was amazing. They were pushing the bighorn sheep further up the mountain!

Now, let me tell you about the study sites! There are several sites located across Glacier NP. And, there are five sites here in the Many Glacier valley. Each study site is placed in prime wolverine country. At each site there is an eight foot long wooden pole (often a dead tree). At the very top of the pole is the bait, a raw deer leg. The researchers get the deer legs from road kill deer. There are also twelve gun brushes (they have very stiff bristles) attached in a spiral along the pole. Then, lastly a lure is placed on the log to attract the wolverines. It is a very, very, very strong and smelly liquid made from skunk scent and other nasty substances from a beaver. YUCK! The bottle that the lure was in was wrapped in ten bags then placed in a plastic tub and taped shut with duck tape. Guess what, you could still smell it through all of that! The idea is that the wolverines will smell the lure from far away and will come to the pole. Once at the pole, the wolverine will climb up the pole to get at the deer leg. When the wolverine climbs the pole, some of its hair will get stuck on the brushes. Then, we will go out and collect the hair. Did you know that DNA is in hair? This is why the hair is so important. It allows the wildlife biologists to study the wolverines without harming them. And, now you know why I wasn’t able to write a second blog last week. I was very busy!


Now, I think it might have been Bryce who expressed interest in wolverines during a Skype session, so here we go! First of all we should talk a bit about wolverines. Wolverines are the largest members of the weasel family. I’m sure most of you are familiar with weasels. When I think of a weasel, I think of a nice, playful pet. Well, a wolverine is quite the opposite of that. Wolverines are very fierce animals that have even been known to occasionally take down bears! Check out the video below:

http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/wildkingdom/video/video.html?playerId=1431564228&titleId=1452603386

I have never seen a wolverine, and I may never see one. They are very elusive animals. Also, there are not very many of them in this area anymore. However, I will still keep my eye out for them! And, I will keep you posted with how the study is going.


Assignment: I want you to profile a wolverine. I have told you about the wolverine study and a bit about the wolverines themselves, but I want you to do the detective work. Below is a list of characteristics to look for when researching wolverines. Check out the website below to find information on wolverines. Also, I want you to find one interesting fact about wolverines!

http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/animals/wolverine.html

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/wolverine.html

Size
Weight
Life expectancy
Diet
Habitat range