Barnacles, Hummingbirds and Bears, OH MY!!

My assignments this past week have been to go back to Esker Creek and come up with lessons for teenages for a survival summer camp, called Esker Creek Wilderness Challenge.

So with the partnership of two Wragnell-St. Elias rangers and gurus, Macky and Glenn, we have come up with a great 5 day summer camp for teenagers to participate in that are from Yakatut and the Youth Conservation Core (YCC).  The kids will be completeing challenges such as foraging for edible plants to create a meal; correctly identifying organisms that they catch in Esker Creek; completing a scavenger hunt; understading tides; creating art work (not a challenge, just time to be creative) and the final challenge of bringing only 10 items with them to survive overnight after being stuck out in the wilderness.

Macky is another teacher my age who has grown up here in Alaska.  After only her first year teaching she has already gotten a grant and started a garden where she will also start a cooking class with her students'.  Glenn is a Native Alaskian who has been working for the park service for almost 30 years!  He has been outside all of his life, so he knows about everything!

So it was a great adventure that lasted for 5.......  oh wait, you want to know about the bear picture?  You mean the one above?  Oh riiiiight!  I almost forgot!  I WOKE UP THURSDAY MORNING TO A BEAR OUTSIDE OUR CABIN MUNCHING ON SOME GRUB!!!!!!  I was literally getting up off the top bunk to go to the bathroom when I saw the sow (female bear) above eating some veg!  At that time she was maybe 7 meters away from the cabin!  I am still in the process of editing the video (I tried to upload it earlier, but it's too large) to show to everyone.  Anywho, she sashayed her way through the field looking for food and even stopped to scratch her back (the picture above) on a tree. 

Check out the cool fur pattern on her chest.  It looks like a bow.  I called her Lucy; she had this mischievous side to her....  She even came RIGHT UP TO THE PORCH to sniff the weed whacker we had used earlier to create a larger trail.  Macky tapped on the front door glass to get her off the porch and boy did that scare her!  She moved off but too hungry to run away, so she kept eating.  Then Glenn got out on the porch and was talking to her, "Hey Bear" he said.  He's been around bears so much he knows what to do: he banged on the side of the house and boy did she run FAST away!  She doesn't need to associate humans as being part of the area, we wanted her to stay away from the cabin.  

Now this whole time I was building up to this moment, and it didn't disappoint me in the least!  I was inside (thank goodness) and it was a small sow who was very skittish around loud noises.  I got to see her walk and scratch her back and eat some food.  To top it off when we got dressed and went out to the beach we saw her digging up some clams (see below)!

Now On To the New Things I Learned:

• Alder trees are nitrogen fixers: they take in nitrogen from the air and use a red type of root to then transfer the nitrogen into the soil
• Bull kelp is the fastest growing plant: it attaches to the sea floor bottom and then grows up to get its leaves out of the water for photosynthesis (if you don't know what photosynthesis is you may need to be in my 7th grade class for a day or two!)
• Barnacles have the strongest adhesive to attach onto another organism or abiotic (non-living) thing --> no man-made glue can compare
• Barnacles also have the largest body size to penis ration --> penis extends out 8 inches to spread it's gametes out into the ocean

NOW:  My adventure continues as I am heading today to Wragnell-St. Elias National Park to continue working with Maky and Glenn on the Wilderness Challenge.  I will be back on Tuesday, but I will TRY and post updates as they come along!

Otter tracks