Hello everyone!
Things are finally calming down around here. Jeff’s boss came in on Tuesday and stayed for two nights. While he was here, Jeff and I got some work done over at the hotel, but we also had time for some fun. Wednesday afternoon, we all skied out to Lake Josephine. It was a wonderful, sunny day with no wind. There has been a lot of wolverine activity out there. We found wolverine hair on the brushes at Swiftcurrent Lake and at both of the sights on Lake Josephine. Also, the deer leg at the sight on far end of Lake Josephine had been ripped down and devoured! We used a very large screw to attach the dear leg to the post. The screw is drilled through the bone and then into the post. It must have taken some strength for the wolverine to pull down the deer leg! Later that evening, I plopped down the lawn chair on the snow drift outside the cabin and stargazed for a while. It was amazing!
Jeff’s boss left Thursday morning. He was able to bike the whole way out. Jeff and I worked all morning at the hotel and then I went back over by myself in the afternoon to finish painting the third floor (still no ghost sightings). The clouds rolled in about 4:00 pm, but still there was no wind.
Friday, Jeff and I headed back out to Lake Josephine. This time, we brought the tent and camped out! We didn’t leave our cabin until about 4:30 pm so that we could eat dinner before we left. We didn’t see the point in lugging all the food and the stove out when we were only camping about two miles from the cabin. Also, we would have had to hang our food from a tree so that animals couldn’t get it. It just wasn’t worth the trouble. So, we headed out in the early evening on our skis. It has finally cooled back down (in the lower twenty’s and teens) so the snow was very solid and ice-like. It made skiing very difficult and frustrating. We made it to Lake Josephine and set up camp right in the middle of the lake. We were careful to set up camp far enough away from the avalanche shoot to be safe. While we were setting up the tent, we yelled and yelled and listened to our echoes. The clouds were hanging low, so it kept our sound in and our voices echoed for what seemed like forever. We could even yell softly and still hear the echo! As soon as camp was set up, we crawled into the tent and into our sleeping bags (it was 18 degrees!). Jeff and I spent the rest of the evening reading inside of our sleeping bags. We listened to the sounds of the night and tried to sleep despite the bitter cold. As soon as it was light outside, I woke up Jeff and we skied back home (I was so cold). We got an inch of new snow over night. I was very happy to make it back to the cabin to thaw out. It wasn’t the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had, but it was a cool experience. I have never camped in the middle of a frozen lake before!
I spent the rest of the day on Saturday relaxing and recovering from the cold, sleepless night at Lake Josephine. It snowed lightly, but steadily, all day, and we hit a high temperature of 22 degrees. I am happy that winter has returned. We are able to ski across the lakes again which makes getting around a lot easier.
Sunday, I watched some football and went for a nice walk around property. It as cloudy and cold (I woke up to 7 degrees) but beautiful nonetheless.
The camping adventure inspired me to dig into my knowledge of nocturnal animals. One of the best things about camping is listening to all of the night life in the forest. Jeff and I didn’t hear much except for the wind on Friday night, but we saw fresh coyote tracks in the morning. During our many nights spent out in the backcountry in the summer time, we have heard owls, bugling elk, and bears turning over rocks. It is always fun to try to identify the animals around us by the noises they make.
Nocturnal animals are animals that are awake and active during the night and sleep during the day. During the days of the dinosaurs, many mammals moved about during the dark hours of night in order to avoid their predators. Some of those animals developed adaptations like night-vision and specialized hearing. Many small animals have retained these nocturnal qualities and so have their predators.
One of my favorite nocturnal animals is the owl. As you probably know, owls have very large eyes. Owls and many other nocturnal animals have large eyes to make use of the minimal light. Unlike many other birds, an owl’s eyes are located on the front of their face. This placement of the eyes allows binocular vision and very precise depth perception. Owls can also move their heads in almost a complete circle. Owls are very good hunters and have a few adaptations that help them in the dark. An owl’s wings are rounded and they have very soft feathers which allow the owl to fly through the night silently. They also have amazing hearing with allows them to hear the slightest ruffle of grasses. Check out this awesome video below! Watch the night owl video and the next video after it called night vision.
There are many other nocturnal animals. Here in Glacier NP there are many animals that are generally nocturnal. To list a few, there are mountain lions, bats (though not in the winter), lynx, beavers, coyotes, skunks, weasels, wolves, etc. Some near you include bats, beavers, skunks, opossums, raccoons, frogs, etc. If any of you have a hamster, you know that hamsters are nocturnal too!
Many people are afraid of the dark or at least afraid to be in the woods in the dark. Most of our fear comes from not knowing what is around us. We do not have the adaptations that nocturnal animals have, so we cannot see well in the dark. I have done many hikes at night. The slightest sound is enough to set me on edge sometimes. Normally, it is only a rodent moving in the grasses or the wind blowing. As you learn to identify the sounds around you, the less scary it gets. Like I said above, I have laid in my tent listening to bears overturning rocks looking for insects. It is really neat to listen to, and it’s not scary (as long as you remember not to bring any food into your tent). I encourage you to get to know the sounds of the night. Maybe this summer you could camp out in your yard with your parents and listen to the sounds around you. You could even sleep with your window open (in the summer and with permission of course) and listen to the sounds.
Assignment: Pick a nocturnal animal that interests you. Try to pick something other than an owl. Draw a picture of your nocturnal animal. Below the picture I want you to write five facts about your animal. These facts should include adaptations, where the animal is found, and other interesting facts. The more you learn the better!
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