Wildlife Expert Visits the Northwoods, Presentation on Cougars In Wisconsin

On Thursday March 14, Wildlife Ecology Professor Dr. Eric Anderson will visit the Northwoods and provide a free evening presentation on “Big Cats: Fact, Fiction and Future.”  

Dr. Anderson is active in carnivore research and education on cougars, bobcat and wolves.  He is author to numerous scientific journal articles and co-author on several books dealing with carnivores and wildlife habitat selection. Currently, Anderson and his students are investigating wolf pup survival in central Wisconsin as well as researching the presence of cougars throughout the State.  

Multiple confirmed sightings and signs in various counties throughout Wisconsin make this a particularly interesting time to hear from Dr. Anderson on the cougar’s past, current and future status. 

The North Lakeland Discovery Center is hosting Dr. Anderson as the featured presenter in their monthly “Nibbles ‘n’ Knowledge” adult-lecture series. The evening begins with a selection of appetizers and a cash bar from 5 – 6 pm, with the presentation to follow from 6 – 7 pm.   

The evening program will be held at Camp JornYMCA, on Red Feather Road off Highway K in Manitowish Waters.  All Discovery Center programs through April are free of charge, with donations encouraged. Advance registration for all programs is required. 

Please call (877) 543-2085 or sign up online www.DiscoveryCenter.net. 

A Visit to a Special Place

On Saturday, February 23^rd, Discovery Center staff, members and partners had the opportunity to visit a very unique and beautiful landscape.  In cooperation with The Nature Conservancy, the Discovery Center was able to invite members on a very special outing at the Guido Rahr, Sr. Tenderfoot Forest Reserve. 

Photo 1: Matt Dallman, of The Nature Conservancy,
discusses the property before the snowshoe hike. 

  The program was put together by Matt Dallman of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Rod Sharka, of Partners in Forestry and a volunteer of TNC, Discovery Center staff and special guests, local authors and naturalists John Bates and Mary Burns.  Thanks to the hard work of Matt and the sponsorship of TNC, we gained special access to the site by land.  Normally the site cannot be visited unless you canoe across Palmer Lake, up the Ontonagon River and across Tenderfoot Lake. 

We set out early in the morning, and after a somewhat adventuresome ride in the big van down the curvy, steep, snowy roads, made it to the starting point of the snowshoe hike.  Since this snow had not yet been touched by anyone, we took turns breaking trail; there were several feet of beautiful snow covering the ground.  All the hemlocks and yellow birch had a layer of fresh snow from the night before.  We spent the next three hours snowshoeing through the old growth hemlock forest, listening to a site history from Matt, old growth forest interpretation from John and a few chickadees and nuthatches that joined us.  Some of the funnier moments came from snow that started to fall off the trees, landing on some of the group members. 

Photo 2: Group shot on Mirror Lake.  (l to r) Mary Burns, John Bates, Peg Uihlein,
Bob Schmidt, Ted Crabb, Sherlene Schmidt, Mike Uihlein, Licia Johnson,
Bob Twelmeyer, Cheryl Bowen, Barb Crabb and Rod Sharka. 
Taking the photo and missing from the shot is Matt Dallman. 

  It was a very enjoyable morning and not one we all will soon forget!   

(Information below from TNC website)

TNC in Wisconsin

Since their founding in 1960, The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 229,500 acres of land and water in some of Wisconsin’s most critical landscapes. These areas include the Baraboo Hills in Sauk and Columbia counties, the Door Peninsula, the forests of northern Wisconsin, the Mukwonago River watershed in southeast Wisconsin, and the Military Ridge Prairie Heritage area in southwest Wisconsin.

The Nature Conservancy also owns and manages preserves in other locations around the state. Conservancy preserves are open to the public for recreational activities such as hiking, hunting, canoeing, cross-country skiing and wildlife-watching.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site

The Tenderfoot acquisition is significant because it protects 500 acres of old-growth hemlock-hardwood forest--the largest remaining expanse of old-growth forest in private ownership in Wisconsin.

Photo 3:  John and Mary stop to measure the
diameter of a large yellow birch tree.

The preserve also protects more than four miles of undeveloped shoreline on three wild lakes in northern Wisconsin.  According to a 1996 report by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, two-thirds of northern Wisconsin’s undeveloped lakes 10 acres or larger have been developed since 1960.  If this trend continues, according to the report, all undeveloped lakes in northern Wisconsin not in public ownership could be developed within the next 20 years.

Tenderfoot is a critical link in a network of public and private forest lands that make up the Border Lakes Area, which spans about 24,000 acres in Vilas County.  The area harbors white pines up to 400 years old and includes wetlands, spring-fed ponds, many wild lakes and streams.

The Border Lakes Area is also the headwaters of the Presque Isle and Ontonagon rivers.  The Tenderfoot property contributes surface water and groundwater to both rivers, whose watersheds cover more than 1.25 million acres in Wisconsin and Michigan.  Management of the land will play an important role in protecting water quality in these two important rivers.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing

Photo 4:  Enjoying the snow and the scenery.  

In October 2005, the Conservancy purchased the land from the Rahr family, which is originally from Manitowoc where they brewed beer and made malt for the beer industry. The family donated more than $1 million of the value of the land to the Conservancy in order to ensure that the property remains in its natural state for generations to come.

Prior to selling the land to the Conservancy, the Rahr family had owned and cared for it for more than 120 years. The preserve is named in honor of Guido Rahr, Sr., who served on the Wisconsin Conservation Commission for 23 years in the 1950s and 60s.  During those years, his leadership and business experience were credited with making Wisconsin’s Conservation Department one of the most outstanding wildlife agencies in the nation.

2012 Wisconsin update:

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/wisconsin/wisconsin-update-fall-2012.pdf

We thank The Nature Conservancy, Matt, Rod, John, Mary and all the Discovery Center members who joined us and made this such an amazing experience!

Photo captions: (all photos taken by Licia, except #2 by Matt Dallman)

10 Fun Things to do in the Snow

10 Fun Things to do in the Snow:  (From January 2012 Newsletter)

Bring on the snow...Bundle up and get out with your friends and family to enjoy all that winter has to offer. 

1.  Get active.  Strap on a pair of snowshoes or skis.  The Discovery Center has over 12 miles of snowshoe and groomed ski trails to enjoy.

2.  Ice cube scavenger hunt.  Make colored ice cubes by adding food coloring, hide them in the snow and try to find them.

3.  Catch snowflakes.  Put a black piece of paper in the freezer.  Then take it outside, catch a snowflake,  and use a magnifying lens to look at the flakes up close.

4. Make a home.  Pack and use the snow to make an igloo or quinzee hut!

5.  Make ice cream.  Take one cup of cold milk, dissolve 3/4 cup sugar, and add 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract.  Mix in 4-5 cups of fresh snow until it becomes thick.

6.  Make colorful snow angels.  Make snow angels, then take colored water in spray bottles and color away!

7.  Make maple candy.  Boil pure maple syrup and then drizzle it on well-packed snow.  Make sure it is cool before eating! 

8.  Explore by moonlight.  Each month, take advantage of the full moon’s bright light by exploring the forest at night.

9.  Footprint tag.  Play tag, stepping only in each others’ footprints.

10.  Become a winter wildlife detective.  After a fresh snowfall, look for animal tracks and figure out who left them.

School Experiences

by Licia Johnson, Naturalist

One of the most important programs here at the Center is our school-based environmental education programs.  As much as we can, we get schools to come to the Center for a full day of educational activities, but budgets do not always allow for this type of program.  Several years ago we developed the “Naturalist in the Classroom” program, where we take our programs to local schools.  This has given me an opportunity to educate hundreds of local students and make vital community connections.  

Naturalist, Licia Johnson, explores
 beaver ecology inside the classroom.

I wanted to highlight two experiences where I have worked with the Arbor Vitae-Woodruff School.  AVW school is an expeditionary learning school, which defined by elschool.org means this school “inspire[s] the motivation to learn, engage teachers, and students in new levels of focus and effort, and transform schools into places where students and adults become leaders of their own learning.”  AVW School’s mission statement:  The mission of the AV-W School where commitment to the child is first, is to ensure each student learns, dreams, grows, and contributes as a responsible citizen. This is accomplished by providing challenging diverse educational experiences , utilizing our natural setting and technology , taught by a dedicated staff in partnership with our entire community.  This is really a special school and we are honored to be a part of their vision for their students. 

First Grade Frog Expedition

In the spring of 2012, I was asked to come in and work with the first grade students on their spring frog expedition.  Each study came along with guiding questions and case studies.  I came into the school to not only teach the students basic information on frogs, but to also develop and assist of some type of fieldwork project that would take place off campus.  Under their expeditionary learning model, they try to frame their work away from school and great field work studies where students are active investigators.  I spent a day working with the students discussing frog adaptations, habitat, frog ID, etc.  Guided by the teachers’ goals, I then developed a treefrog monitoring project for the students.  We decided to install a simple passive trapping system at the local school forest.  This included putting basic PVC pipes upright in the ground to act as shelter for local treefrogs.  They are not trapped, but use the tubes as a protected, humid retreat during the day.   I joined the students for a morning of marking and installation of the pipes.  I then created a data sheet and frog ID sheet for the students to use on their subsequent visits to the school forest to check the pipes for treefrogs.  They also installed several pipes around their school.  They visited the traps a number of times throughout the last month of school, but were unable to document any frogs in the traps.  With any good research project, lack of documentation of critters is still valuable information!  Following the several month long expedition, the students were they asked to create products to show off their learning.  They created a frog life cycle booklet, clay frog that showed some specific physical characteristics of a species of local frog, and a diorama that demonstrated the knowledge of a frog’s habitat.  

Student's Frog Diorama

The project culminated with an evening presentation to family and friends where the students discussed their time learning about frogs and conducting the research project.  They then were able to show off their clay frogs and dioramas.  Being a part of such important educational opportunities is the best part of my job here at the Center; there is nothing better than seeing these students become interested and involved in the natural world around them, gaining a new appreciation for their local environment.  The school plans to make this an annual study.  The Discovery Center was able to provide my time and efforts at no cost to the school on the project thanks to our annual Fund-a-Wish donations that supports Citizen-Based Monitoring projects.  Thank you to all who donated and allowed this great program to come to fruition!    

Second Grade Beaver-cology

Students explore the beaver pelt.

October 2012 brought another visit to AVW school, this time with the second grade students and the topic of beavers.  Now these are the same students who I worked with in the spring of 2012 as first graders.  It is such a joy to work with students year after year, watching them grow and learn.  Of course I wanted to see if they were able to remember some of the information I taught them about frogs and to my amazement and delight they were able to recall the term ‘adaptation’ to describe something an animal has or does that helps it to survive.  I was so proud!!  I then had them make a connection between frogs and beavers; how they are the same, how are they different.  Our morning programs focused on beaver adaptations, lifestyle and impacts.  The students participated in a fun beaver adaptation dress-up activity along with exploring actual beaver artifacts that included skulls, pelts, and actual beaver castor.  As school budgets reserve less and less funds for these types of activities for students, these particular programs were partly funded by a generous grant to the Discovery Center’s environmental education program from Xcel Energy.  We would like to thank Xcel for their support of our programs and furthering our mission.    

From Smelling to Collecting Food, Animal Tongues are Amazing!

by Licia Johnson, Naturalist

I have recently been creating new programs for our curriculum at the Discovery Center.  Researching and reading on different animals in the Northwoods has really taught me a lot, but something that I have really noticed are just how incredible some body parts of certain animals really are.  Nothing has stood out to me more the tongue.  Humans use tongues to aid in eating, tasting and speaking, and I was amazed at the different ways that animals have adapted to use theirs.

Snakes

If you have ever watched a snake slithering around exploring its environment, you have inevitably watched as it quickly sticks out its tongue.  There is a very important function going on with this simple motion.  IF you take a close look at the tongue of a snake, you will notice that it is forked at the end.  When a snake is flicking its tongue out, it is smelling and sensing its surroundings by collecting particles in the air.  What we can’t see, is when the snake brings its tongue back into its mouth, it sticks the forked end into two holes in the pallet of the mouth known as the Jacobson’s Organ.  This organ allows the brain to perceive and detect prey.  The snake does not use its tongue for tasting or as an aid when eating.

Butterflies

Butterflies have a specially adapted mouthpiece known as a proboscis.  If you have ever watched an adult butterfly land on a flower, you may have noticed that a small straw-like body part unravels out of the mouth area and stick into the center of the flower.  Unlike their caterpillar metamorphic stage, who eats with a chewing mandible mouthpiece, adult butterflies must ‘suck’ up their food.  They have adapted to have a long, tongue-like mouthpiece that does exactly that.  The proboscis is actually made up of two separate pieces, long grooved half-tubes that are separate when the adult emerges from the chrysalis.  They are then unrolled and rolled up until they are literally ‘zipped’ together, forming a tube.  Included in this tube are several muscles and a trachea.  As a butterfly flies around and lands on flowers, the proboscis is unrolled and stuck into the flower. It was once believed that they suck up nectar like a straw, but some studies show that butterflies bring up the nectar using capillary action- just like water moves across paper towel.

Hummingbirds

When a hummingbird hovers around a flower to collect nectar, it sticks an almost translucent tongue into a flower.  It was once believed that the tongue worked like a straw, but hummingbirds don’t suck up nectar, they lick it up.  The tip of their tongue is forked and has a hollow trough.  Nectar is drawn into these troughs through capillary action, similar to the butterfly. As the bird extends its tongue again and again for each lick, this brings a pulsing stream of nectar into its mouth. 

Woodpeckers

We are familiar with the rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat sound of the woodpecker resonating throughout the northern forests.  Woodpeckers drill holes in trees for many reasons, to create nesting cavities, in a courtship ritual, and in search of food.  While searching for insects to consume, woodpeckers will drill holes into the trees, listen for bug activity, and continue until a cavity is created that they can stick their bills into.  This is when the amazing woodpecker tongue goes to work.  Inside the trees are incredible networks of tunnels created by numerous species of insects.  The woodpecker hole literally ‘taps’ into these networks in search of food.  Once the bill is located inside the cavity, a long, sticky tongue comes out and probes around the tunnels to catch the meal.  The tongue of a woodpecker needs to be quite long in order to achieve this, sometimes reaching three times the length of the bill!  The tip of a woodpecker tongue is hard and pointed with barbs (similar to a porcupine’s quill).  The pointed end pierces through the insect, the barbs keep the insect on the tongue, and it is brought back into the mouth of the woodpecker.  This long tongue finds its start at the base of the right nostril, extends around the head, and out the mouth.  It’s important to note that not all woodpeckers have this adaptation, Northern flickers, who often feed on the ground, have long, smooth, sticky tongues with which they probe anthills.  Yellow-bellied sap suckers have a shorter tongue with feathery bristles that help it lap up the sap from holes it creates in trees.  

Lightning Bugs!

by Allie Coleman, Visitor Experience Intern

Lightning bugs, also called fireflies, are not simply bugs and are not flies. They are beetles! Fireflies are carnivorous. The adult fireflies signal each other with their lights and mate. 

The summer evening light shows, that you see, are performed by male fireflies. They flash patterns of light to females. The females signal in response from perches in or near the ground. When the male sees the female's flash he continues to signal and moves closer. Eventually, through a series of flashes, they find each other and mate. Each species of firefly sends different mating signals. In fact, a beetle specialist or a keen observer can recognize most species by the number, duration, and time lapses between flashes. The light given off by fireflies during their abdominal flashes is called bioluminescence. It happens when oxygen and the organic compound, luciferin, react together in the presence of the enzyme, lucifereace. This creates light. Although other insects can produce light, fireflies are the only insects that can flash their light on and off in distinct signals. Even the eggs and larvae of some firefly species glow. That's where the name "glow worm" comes from.

For more information on fireflies and how you can help track their numbers and progress, visit www.mos.org/fireflywatch