|
Boundary Waters Quetico Forum Listening Point - General Discussion Bear Center, newish reason to go |
Author
Text
09/19/2017 10:52PM
We went to the Bear Center in Ely last week for the first time in a few years. We did get to see Lucky climb a tree and watching a 460 lb bear do that is pretty impressive.
But perhaps the coolest new thing, and it's a couple of years old, is a northwoods ecology room with an excellent diorama including a large number of taxidermy animals. Really an excellent way to hone those species identification skills and a reason to bring BWCA newcomers there before their first trip.
If you haven't been there lately, give it a see.
After that we stopped at the wolf center and got treated to all 5 of the display pack running around and interacting. Last year's pups are starting to test the leaders for dominance and that was pretty interesting to watch. Denali, the biggest male, put up with it for a while but then made it clear who is boss.
Both visits were excellent and we just got lucky at the wolf center. It helped that we went near the end of the day and perhaps that they were getting fed later that evening. If they realized that, it might have revved them up a bit.
But perhaps the coolest new thing, and it's a couple of years old, is a northwoods ecology room with an excellent diorama including a large number of taxidermy animals. Really an excellent way to hone those species identification skills and a reason to bring BWCA newcomers there before their first trip.
If you haven't been there lately, give it a see.
After that we stopped at the wolf center and got treated to all 5 of the display pack running around and interacting. Last year's pups are starting to test the leaders for dominance and that was pretty interesting to watch. Denali, the biggest male, put up with it for a while but then made it clear who is boss.
Both visits were excellent and we just got lucky at the wolf center. It helped that we went near the end of the day and perhaps that they were getting fed later that evening. If they realized that, it might have revved them up a bit.
09/20/2017 03:00PM
Fun reminder to allow extra time before/after a trip to see the local sights. With animals going more than once means you'll see something new each time.
Wherever there is a channel for water, there is a road for the canoe. -Thoreau
09/20/2017 03:53PM
quote VoyageurNorth: "Thanks for the reminder about the Bear Center. Haven't been there all year. I remember when Lucky was just a little cub bugging Ted. :-)"
Yep, we remember that, too. They had a video of those days playing over the windows to outside. Pretty amazing contrast.
09/22/2017 09:24PM
Agree, traveling to Ely without visiting the Bear Center is a sin. Our first visit to the Center was last week. Very impressive. I've been going to the Boundary Waters for 40 years now. First time I've ever seen a bear. Staff member reminded me however, that this was probably not the first time an Ely bear has seen me. :)
09/25/2017 06:50PM
Oh yea that room is super awesome. We spent a lot f time in that room a few years ago. It was super interesting, especially to see just how big a moose is if you haven't seen one in the wild!
“The Wilderness holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask.” - Nancy Newhall
09/25/2017 07:31PM
I was fascinated by the skeleton of the short-faced bear. I sure wouldn't want the aroma of my frying bacon attracting one of those to my camp.
The business of life is the acquisition of memories. In the end that's all there is. ___Mr Carson (Downton Abby)
Subscribe to Thread
Become a member of the bwca.com community to subscribe to thread and get email updates when new posts are added. Sign up Here