NatMuONTANAralisWinter 2012-2013t

Why can’t we just get along? Hiking Columbia Mountain

Birds in Snow Stargazing and More page 9 Connecting People with Nature

WINTER 2012-13 NATURALIST To promote and cultivate the appreciation, understanding and stewardship of nature through education inside Winter 2012-2013 NatMuONTANAralist Features 4 Sharing the Land A local non-profit helps make it happen by Caroline Kurtz 6 What Is Wild? Searching for an answer on Columbia Mountain by Matt Holloway 4 Departments 3 Tidings 9 Get Outside Guide What’s that star?; the search for exoplanets; whitebark pine ecology and more Special 6 13 Community Focus Pull-Out Beginning beekeepers, buzzing bees Section 14 Far Afield Snowed In! Birdwatching in a blizzard 16 Imprints 2012 honorees; fall celebration thank yous

18 Magpie Market 9 13 19 Reflections Under the Oak intaglio print by Elizabeth Claire Rose

Cover – A Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) feeds along the shore of Yellowstone Lake as a snow storm blows in on a cold Fall afternoon in Yellowstone National Park. Captured with a Canon 7D and 70-200/2.8L IS II in aperture priority mode with an exposure bias of + 2/3 at ISO400, f/2.8, and 1/500th of a second. The camera was handheld. This bear was photographed while leading Rocky Mountain College students on a class trip for ART243 - 14 16 Nature Photography. Photographer Dave Shumway is the staff photographer and adjunct instructor of photography for Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. Dave has two passions, one for the outdoors and one for photography. To this end he spends much of his time in the ecosystems in and around Yellowstone National Park. www.daveshumway.com

No material appearing in Montana Naturalist may be reproduced in part or in whole without the written consent of the publisher. All contents © 2013 The Montana Natural History Center. 2 MONTANA NATURALIST WINTER 2012-13 tidings

Connecting People with Nature 120 Hickory Street Missoula, MT 59801 406.327.0405 [email protected] www.MontanaNaturalist.org

Executive Director Arnie Olsen

Education Director Lisa Bickell

Assistant Education Director Brian Williams

Naturalist

Alyssa McLean Photo by Allison De Jong A Thanksgiving ski at Community Pass. Programs Coordinator Christine Morris s I write this, the first big snow of the season has just fallen, and I look out my Volunteer Coordinator, window at a world frosted in white, snow outlining branches and power lines in true Field Notes Coordinator & winter wonderland fashion. I’m ready to get out my skis, shush softly over the snow, Montana Naturalist Editor A Allison De Jong and explore the magic of winter in Montana. We Montanans love getting out into the wild spaces, and we’re fortunate—they are Development & (sometimes literally) right out our back door. Much of this issue looks at the places where Marketing Director Whitney Schwab we, and all the roads and technology and civilization that come with us, intersect with that wildness. And in those places where the lines blur, questions arise: What is wildness? What Office Manager are our responsibilities as people who live in such close proximity to wild creatures? What do Deb Jones we do when we must actually share land with grizzlies and wolves, who have been a part of Administrative Assistant this landscape longer than we have? Whose land is it, really? Candace Romero There are no easy answers to these questions, but we can’t help but try to find them, Visiting Naturalist Instructor as you’ll see in this issue: the non-profit group People and Carnivores works to make the Christine Wren meeting place of humans and wild creatures a peaceful one (pages 4-5). Writer and outdoor Volunteer Visiting Naturalist adventurer Matt Holloway wrestles with the questions that arise when we explore the unwild Instructors wild (pages 6-8). Naturalist Mike Canetta fills his birdfeeders for hungry Evening Grosbeaks Rod Snyder and other birds during a blizzard, seeing firsthand how these wild animals interact with an Valerie Bayer urban environment (pages 14-15). Education Interns This winter, as you’re hiking or skiing or snowshoeing through your favorite wild places, Mike Canetta or enjoying one of MNHC’s Evening Lectures or Naturalist Field Days, I encourage you to Shanna Ungate ponder some of these questions, and see what answers you may discover. Board of Directors Hank Fischer, President Happy Holidays! Marilyn Marler, Vice President Marcia Kircher, Secretary Betty Oleson, Treasurer Julie Cannon Dave Dyer Susie Graham Janice Givler Allison De Jong Sally Johnson Editor Edward Monnig [email protected] Rick Oncken Penny Ritchie Jeremy Roberts Stephen Speckart Montana Naturalist Art Director Eileen Chontos

3 WINTER 2012-13 MONTANA NATURALIST This Land is Our Land, This Land is Their Land People and

Carnivores By Caroline Kurtz Wants Us to

Get Along gatherings for community members to learn about bears and other species, and build bridges between people who live and work on the land and those whose passion is to see potting a young male grizzly endangered wild species prosper. bear ambling in a sunny “Ursus arctos is an incredibly adaptable meadow on an early spring day, species,” Primm says. They search out many his chocolate coat reflecting different sources of food and, while now silver as he excavates earth in confined mostly to montane habitat, they used search of ground squirrels, to live out in the open. “Because of this history, succulent roots or pawfuls of we know we can expect to find bears where juicyS grubs, is a beautiful and awe-inspiring people are, but the piece that has been missing sight—one that anyone who lives in Montana is a way to resolve human-wildlife conflicts might feel privileged, even blessed, to see. without killing off the animals that we as a It’s different when that same grizzly society have worked so hard to protect.” comes sniffing around your ranch, attracted For his part, Wilson, who also by the promising odors of a carcass pile or the coordinates the wildlife committee for

afterbirth of newborn lambs or calves. Or if a the collaborative conservation effort, the ©iStockphoto.com/doodlemachine bear learns to forage for garbage or pet food Blackfoot Challenge, has spent several years in your suburban garage. In cases like these, researching what factors predispose conflict where people are threatened and property is “… the piece that has been between people and bears, and what the lost, it usually doesn’t end well for the wild missing is a way to resolve human- specific land-use practices are in different animal. At the least they may be trapped, wildlife conflicts without killing off places where conflicts perennially occur. sedated and moved; at the worst, they’re killed. “I find ranchers very open about sharing For this reason, a roving pair of the animals that we as a society information,” he says. “We give them ideas conservation biologists has made it their have worked so hard to protect.” about what the bears might be doing and mission to offer practical, research-based why, but they know the landscape. They know advice and assistance to change this age-old The duo take an entrepreneurial approach, if grizzlies are there or not.” dynamic—one rancher, one hunter, one reaching out to myriad other organizations Wilson adds that people who have country- or city-dweller at a time. to partner on projects ranging from along the lived on the land for multiple generations “It’s an intriguing problem,” says Steve Rocky Mountain Front, to the Blackfoot River understand bears. “The bigger challenge is Primm, co-director for the relatively new watershed, to the Madison, Big Hole and working with people who just moved here,” nonprofit, People and Carnivores (www. Centennial valleys in Montana, and beyond he says, as in the Blackfoot Valley, where peopleandcarnivores.org). “How do we live our state’s boundaries into Washington, bear numbers have been increasing. “Often with wildlife so as to minimize the negative Oregon, and Alberta, and even overseas to newcomers are not even tuned in to the fact impacts to both people and animals?” Slovakia. The solutions they offer, though that bears are there, let alone how to live Intriguing, yes, and also more and more not perfect, are time-tested and scientifically with them.” pressing as growing populations of bears—and proven. Although mostly low-tech, their What Wilson and Primm recommend even more difficult to deal with, wolves— tactics can be labor intensive and expensive people do to avoid or mitigate unwanted are running up against increasing human to implement, hence the value of cost-sharing encounters with large carnivores depends populations, almost always to the ultimate collaborations [see sidebar]. on the context. Each valley and watershed is detriment of wildlife. Primm and Wilson add thousands of unique, with different attractants that vary About two years ago, Primm and miles to their pickup trucks each season as they depending on the time of year. But in each colleague Seth Wilson organized the work travel from county to county to offer practical case, having unfettered access to human they had each already been doing for more support to landowners dealing with negative garbage, bee hives (larvae are super appealing than a decade into People and Carnivores. impacts of bears or wolves, hold educational to bears, not just honey), fruit trees, livestock 4 MONTANA NATURALIST WINTER 2012-13 feed or pet food, boneyards, afterbirth and People and Carnivores newborn animals (and, increasingly, chickens in Project Partners: urban areas)—all increase the chance that bears Montana ranchers, landowners and land managers will stick around. Allied Waste Services These attractants, particularly when they are concentrated along river and creek bottoms, are The Blackfoot Challenge “just like a Sunday buffet for bears,” says Wilson. Living with Wildlife Foundation And the animals remember exactly where to find MT Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks the choicest goodies and teach that to their cubs. MT Department of Transportation One highly successful project to close down MT Department of Natural Resources this smorgasbord started in the Blackfoot in the Photo by Seth Wilson and Conservation Primm and Wilson have built almost 150 bear poles, late 1990s and early 2000s with the Blackfoot Nature Conservancy from which people can safely hang camp goods or Natural Resources Conservation Service Challenge, and focused on removing and harvested game out of bears’ reach. composting the carcasses of dead livestock that Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative every ranch and farm has. P&C teamed up with what’s important to their consumers. If people Beaverhead, Flathead, Granite, Lewis and the Blackfoot Challenge and MT Department of in Missoula or New Jersey or California want Clark, Madison, Missoula, Pondera, Powell, Transportation (which does the actual composting to see wild animals on the landscape, they pay and Silver Bow Counties at their facility, where they also handle roadkilled attention to that.” Big Hole Watershed Committee deer and elk). The project has been a partnership “In a really divided country,” he adds, “we get Wildlife Conservation Society between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and excited every day by people we meet, the so-called University of Montana, College of Forestry MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and, of course, the ‘radical middle’.” and Conservation ranching community, to all share the costs to make Primm and Wilson say that private land is US Fish and Wildlife Service - Partners for it a free service for livestock producers. essential to maintaining species diversity in this Fish and Wildlife Program Sometimes it takes patience to wait until the country, and eventually it becomes an issue of US Forest Service time is ripe for such an initiative to take hold. fairness. “If Montana ranchers have habitat that US Geological Survey “Livestock carcass removal in places like the Big is used by wild animals, we need to have ways Yale University’s School of Forestry and Hole Valley could be helpful for reducing wolf- to help them. If people in this country value Environmental Studies livestock conflicts,” says Wilson, “but we don’t wildlife, including top carnivores, we should try have quite enough interest from the ranchers yet. to encourage public support of these initiatives so Ultimately it needs to be their decision, not ours.” ALL share the cost,” says Wilson. This is the most important aspect of People “For most of our history we’ve pushed wildlife and Carnivores, he says—fostering a sense of respect back, and now, as a society, we are inviting them in and communication between people of different again,” he continues. “Can we collectively roll up backgrounds and experiences. our shirt sleeves, get to work, and figure out how to “It’s an absolute privilege to work with balance the needs of people and wildlife?” landowners and ranchers,” continues Wilson, who People and Carnivores certainly believes finds they often empathize with conservationists’ it’s possible. positions in surprising ways. Photo by Seth Wilson “We value what farmers and ranchers —Caroline Kurtz is the former editor of Montana Tom Hatch with a new electric fence on his Nevada Creek Ranch. produce, and many ranchers, like the Mannix Naturalist and still loves learning and writing brothers in the Blackfoot Valley, pay attention to about nature and issues that relate. The types of solutions that Primm and Wilson offer are simple in concept but sometimes hard to implement for busy ranchers or inexperienced landowners. In concert with other nonprofits, local businesses, and state and federal agencies, People and Carnivores helps landowners with tools like electric fencing, fladry fencing, livestock carcass removal, finding and using livestock guard dogs, and contracting with range riders to monitor cattle and wolves. A grizzly wanders Each of these has been shown across a field on the to be effective at minimizing the Coughlin Ranch in negative effects of wildlife under the Blackfoot Valley.

Photo by Peter Brown certain conditions. 5 WINTER 2012-13 MONTANA NATURALIST Between the Wild and the Not-Wild

Columbia Mountain Blurs the Lines

By Matt Holloway Photos by Corrie and Matt Holloway

ovember ice crunches under my boots as I climb month of every season for over a decade. And as always, I try and make the steep Columbia Mountain Trail—frozen sense of my experience, to categorize and order it neatly in my head. puddles fracturing into spider webs, and clods But with Glacier National Park and the vast Bob Marshall Wilderness of glazed larch needles breaking apart brittle to the east of Columbia Mountain, and ninety thousand humans as candy. Caught in the yawn of hesitation and industrialism bubbling to the west, the spine-like that stretches between fall and winter, the forest floor is draped with hogback exists as a strange middle ground, a zone of overlaps, blurred brownN and yellow leaves, and only traces of snow sit in the shadows, lines, and consequently, a place that spurs questions. forecasting the white blanket to come. The chicka-dee-dee-dee call of Rising more than four thousand feet above the valley floor, a mountain chickadee flits scratchy and raw through the woods, and I Columbia Mountain pitches steeply skyward in a near-vertical turn to find the small bird. buttress of timber. On top, hanging subalpine basins scoop from But its voice and flutterings are suddenly masked by the loud peak to peak, and down low, civilization and wildness blur about the holler of a train whistle—whooooo-whooooo!—echoing through the mountain’s ankles. Ranches and houses butt up against pristine fish, air, filling all space, suffocating song. I glance northwest toward the bird, and animal habitat—a zone of overlap bureaucratically labeled railroad tracks and the great, slithering serpent of metal that rattles, the “Wildland Urban Interface” (WUI), and pronounced “woo-eee.” clanks, scrapes and whines. Steam blows in plumes from the Plum A good friend who works for the Forest Service is trying to rename Creek Mill, and tucked against Teakettle Mountain sits the immutable the phrase “Wildland Rural Interface” (WRI), since the title is more and enduring concrete footprint of the vacant aluminum plant. appropriate, and the acronym sounds like “worry.” Powerlines, gridded roads. Today, people ride dirt bikes and mountain bikes along the Swan Geometry, progress. Above: A winter sunset on Crest Trail, and every year during hunting season I hear the whiny, With the trail only three miles Columbia Mountain. nasal ejaculations of motorcycles zipping about the mountaintops. from my doorstep, I know Columbia Opposite page: The night lights Columbia Mountain and the northern Swan Range are not protected Mountain intimately—having of Columbia Falls. under any special wilderness or management designation—except for explored this wild landscape every Jewel Basin as a hiking-only area—but they like an extended 6 MONTANA NATURALIST WINTER 2012-13 Between the Wild and the Not-Wild

forefinger to the broad fist of One thing I love—a bit of magic, I believe—is how in a single, the Bob Marshall Wilderness. “One thing I love— morning hike, I can transcend time. Huffing up Columbia Mountain Bears, wolves and other critters allows me to go backwards through months and seasons, to reverse travel from the interior of the a bit of magic, nature’s clock. For instance, in mid-July, summer beargrass blooms Bob to the Flathead Valley, and I believe— at the trailhead, but by mid-mountain their stalks will be closed, and vice-versa, via the Swans. Every arnica and arrowleaf balsamroot spring, like clockwork, grizzlies spill down the west slope of the Swan is how in a will be opening their yellow petals Mountains in search of green valleys rich with protein-filled foods, the instead—something they did two mountains like a great ramp for the bears to descend. single, morning months ago in the valley. Then, Words tumble in my mind: Wildness. Motorcycles. Worry. These near the summit, chasing damp blurred lines of distinction. hike, I can snowmelt, the first unbloomed I climb at a brisk pace, sucking cold wind, but I’ve yet to make transcend time.” shoots of glacier lilies and spring the transition out of the lowland forest. Down here, Western cedar and beauties will poke out their heads– Western hemlock, along with birch, cottonwood and aspen, grow from flowers that burst open down low as early as April. small, wet seeps and rivulets. Douglas-fir, grand fir, Englemann spruce, The best, however, is in early fall, when I find respite from the Western white pine, pine, Ponderosa pine, and Western larch smoke, fires and scorched earth by hiding in a dark, wet fold of high stand scattered on the hillside, growing at all ages and heights. The mountains, alongside Indian paintbrush, purple aster, and the whisper- understory of pipsissewa, thimbleberry, Oregon grape, false Solomon’s like trickle of— seal and ceonothus transition to beargrass meadows and subalpine —again, the human world intrudes, this time a commercial jet, forests, where smaller subalpine fir and five-needled pines take the place deep and sonorous, rumbling in the clouds, somewhere over the valley. of the low-elevation monarchs. The summit itself, at 7234’ above sea A wave of sound presses firmly against the mountain, guttural, and then level, is a little mound of rocks, completing the ecosystem climb from recedes . . . a faint hum . . . gone. rainforest to alpine. The plane triggers memory. 7 WINTER 2012-13 MONTANA NATURALIST This past summer, I walked to the top of Columbia Mountain with my stepfather, Charlie. Riding the peak of summer, a crystalline sky strung blue and taut across the curve of the earth, and mountains rippled clearly from horizon to horizon. The air tasted clean and the sunlight landed warm on my shoulders and neck. A halcyon summer day. Except we spent too much time looking down on passenger jets banking along the base of the Swans, finishing their approach into the Kalispell airport. Charlie noted how the out-of-place, mechanical sounds—drag-piped motorcycles, tractor-trailer semis, jets, prop planes, helicopters, RVs—all floated upward, as sound does, and followed us clearly to the top of the mountain. But, then again, on the summit we found a wrought-iron chair, complete with sunflower artwork for backing. Packed up on stock, I guess. Charlie posed in the chair, purposefully goofy and studious, looking out of place as the chair itself, meaning nothing. Similarly, for other people and cultures, wilderness straddling the top of the mountain. was simply “home.” To us, wilderness is anything but home, it is Left: Charlie enjoying a not-home, the else, the other. Most commonly, it is a job provider, a well-deserved rest on the recreational playground, a hunting outpost, a last stockpile of extractive mountain-top chair. resources, or a dark and demonic place that demands taming. Perhaps this sacred, cultural division between the landscape and Above: View of the Flathead Valley from the slopes of us, as narrated and perpetuated by our anthropocentric mythology, is Columbia Mountain. what keeps us irrevocably bound as tourists in the wilderness—guests, sightseers, and visitors—instead of deeply rooted as participants. We are A zone of overlaps, and reduced to sideline critics, unable to reconcile the wild and the not-wild. more blurred lines. Walking along the trail, I wonder: What if we were to live I often wonder this: How can we consider a grizzly bear in the differently? If we were to change the way we live, work to once again be Bob, Glacier Park, or Columbia Mountain to be wild? Grizzlies at home in wildness, our ideas and perceptions would follow, wouldn’t exist under a human-created blanket of “bear management” rules, they? Our frameworks, schemas, and flow charts would shift, and— including explicit behavioral and geographical boundaries, which vary —again, the train whistle cuts through the silence, through my depending on the region and agencies involved. If bears act outside thoughts. A scream, blasting into the mountain. Peremptory and of allowable behavior, such as in a predatory fashion, they are killed. defiant, sounding its anger at the slate, gray sky. If they wander outside an allowable zone, such as into town, they are But, to some people’s ears, the train whistle is the jubilant wail killed. Sometimes, bears are even killed because they exhibit behavior of freedom. To others, money rollin’ on down the line. Or prosperity. that would likely precede an attack. Parameters like these seem all too Employment. Benefits. A mortgage. Insurance, and retirement. akin to those of a zoo, which leads me to perceive the Bob and Glacier Sometimes, when that whistle blows, I hear the dusty sound of my Park—which, for all their size, are still only islands of wilderness—as grandparents’ voices singing along with Jimmy Rogers, the Yodeling merely glorified zoos, the difference being a matter of degrees. Brakeman. I’m transported by the train whistle to Mississippi, the land And yet: how can that same not-wild grizzly be considered of my childhood. trammeled and tame as it rounds a bend in the trail, coming at me I turn from the trail and aim for the base of a Douglas-fir, its web with its head down and teeth clacking? My perception, philosophy and of roots surfacing like dirty wrists from the mossy earth. I sit. Lean reason call that bear inextricably wild. back. I look through the binoculars and find my home, nestled among Is the bear wild and not-wild at the same time? the other homes, in the grid of Columbia Falls. Our ideas and language seem inconsistent and insufficient. It I listen: the hum of nothing, for now. doesn’t hold to say, “What is wild here is not wild there. And vice-versa.” No need for the word wilderness. But perhaps I shouldn’t confuse wildness with danger. A grizzly No need for words at all. in a cage is largely stripped of its wildness and self-determination, but Like Columbia Mountain. remains forever dangerous. A grizzly in the Bob or Glacier Park is Lines blur. likewise pared of its true autonomy and freedom, but is also dangerous. Then again, perhaps the dangerous side of the grizzly is merely its own —Matt Holloway lives with his wife, daughter and son in Columbia Falls, wildness bubbling to the surface, refusing to acquiesce. Montana, and writes when he’s not clawing around in the wilderness. His I’m confident this identity conundrum means nothing to the work has appeared in Montana Magazine, Big Sky Journal, Montana mind of the grizzly, which likely sees itself as no more or less wild than Headwall, several anthologies, and more. Holloway is the fiction editor for the next bear, tree, or human—drawing no such distinction, wildness Whitefish Review. 8 MONTANA NATURALIST WINTER 2012-13 9 Special Pull-Out Section: pull out and post these pages for handy reference.

IST

MNHC Photo MNHC Diane Hildebrand, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Service, Forest USDA Hildebrand, Diane L URA T A N WINTER 2012-13 MONTANA Blister rust cankers girdling a branch.

The reason these trees survive because these trees so long is precisely The reason of white pine blister rust and the effect on white The spread Tiger Salamander Naming Contest Results Tiger have a winner! Kehla McClurg, a 5th-grader from We Frenchtown, submitted the winning names for MNHC’s tiger salamanders: Pickles and Tiger. Stop by and visit our newly-named critters! huddled together on dry, windswept slopes, usually higher than six higher than usually slopes, windswept on dry, together huddled short (sometimes extremely season is growing Their feet. thousand is very and there little water. soil is poor, months), the only three to be pines live some whitebark environment, this challenging In old. 1200 years those high, At the better. desolate, more they live—the of where even to survive, for the tree but it’s hard it’s elevations, rocky few is so dry, the habitat for fungi and insects. Because harder pine, and attack a whitebark can effectively decomposing agents tops. not adapted to the cold and windy mountain pine beetles are occasion, but pine stand on can burn up a whitebark Wildfire burn destructively. to not enough fuel for a fire is usually there to cling to its little free pine is usually The whitebark The result? of years. hundreds for many spot in the rocks Trees Can Get Blisters Too trees these hardy But being threatened are a fungus called by white pine blister rust, up which is creeping the mountains and efficiently killing them The white pines of off. America have North to deal not evolved succumbing to this disease— with the blister rust and they are in Montana particularly pines at higher elevations the whitebark and Alberta. Dry weather weather. limited by pine stands was, until now, for blister rust, not favorable so the higher and cold climates are historically been have pine grows the whitebark where elevations as global climate change of the disease. Unfortunately, almost free to new places that once were intensifies, the fungus is spreading pine, which too cold for it to survive. the whitebark As a result, toughest tests for thousands of has successfully passed Nature’s time will tell if some of the oldest is being wiped out. Only years, on the planet can survivetrees this latest threat. ASTRONOMER BLISTER RUST CLIMATE COLD CONSTELLATION DRY EXOPLANET KEYSTONE MINERVA MONTANA MOUNTAINS PLANET SKY MAP STAR SURVIVE TELESCOPE UNIVERSE WHITEBARK PINE guide

he whitebark pine is a remarkable example of an organism pine is a remarkable he whitebark high up in the lives It adapted to a harsh environment. well into and ranges northward West, mountains of the American outside get Word Search Word Whitebark pines live in an unforgiving climate: timberline in pines live Whitebark

the Rockies. They live on steep, rugged gullies, cliffs and in rocky on steep, They live the Rockies. whitebark pine is a good indicator of ecosystem health. whitebark provide essential food for grizzlies and Clark’s Nutcrackers, the Nutcrackers, essential food for grizzlies and Clark’s provide Alberta and British Columbia. As a keystone species whose seeds Alberta and British T By Baruch Chamberlain and Jordan Kibbee One of Nature’s Toughest SurvivorsOne of Nature’s Toughest Whitebark Pine: Donald Owen, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Bugwood.org Protection, Fire and Forestry of Department California Owen, Donald get outside calendar SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY Volunteer MNHC Hours: January Naturalist January Gallery, all month. Training. miniNaturalists Tuesday-Friday, noon - 5 p.m. Brian Williams: Bone Detective, Pre-K Program, and Saturday noon - 4 p.m. Wildlife 4:00-5:00 p.m. 10:00-11:00 a.m. Photography. Admission Fees: $2/adults, $1/children under 12 (maximum $6) 1 2 3 4 5 /children under 3 and Free Grouse grow stiff Saturday MNHC members Kids Activity. feathers on their Hibernation January Gallery all month. Brian Williams: feet, which function Celebration, Wildlife Photography. like snowshoes 2:00-3:00 p.m. January 2 Volunteer Naturalist Training, 4:00-5:00 p.m. Bone Detective. Prepare for January classroom visits. No prior experience Richard Lake, YNP 9 10 11 12 necessary. Naturalist January 3 miniNaturalists Pre-K Program, Field Day. miniNaturalists 10:00-11:00 a.m. $3; $1 MNHC members. Glacial Advanced Tracking Lake Missoula Pre-K Program, January 12 Saturday Kids’ Activity, Course, 9:00 a.m.- Chapter Meeting, 10:00-11:00 a.m. 2:00-3:00 p.m. Hibernation Celebration. 5:00 p.m. 4:00-5:00 p.m. $3; $1 MNHC members. January 16 Glacial Lake Missoula Chapter Meeting, 16 17 18 19 4:00-5:00 p.m. Open to the public. Flocks of January 17 miniNaturalists Pre-K Program, 10:00-11:00 a.m. $3; $1 MNHC members. mixed- January 19 Naturalist Field Day, species 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Advanced Tracking Course. birds forage January 30 Evening Lecture, 7:00 p.m. together The Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium. $4; MNHC members free. 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

February Gallery all month. Jocelyn Catterson: Evening Wildlife Photography. Gallery Opening Lecture. Wednesday, February 13, 6:00 p.m. The Missoula February Naturalist Field February 2 Naturalist Field Day, Butterfly House and February Gallery, Day. Winter Raptors 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Winter Raptors with Insectarium, 7:00 p.m. all month. Jocelyn with Denver Holt, Denver Holt. Catterson: Wildlife 9:00 a.m.- February 6 Volunteer Naturalist Training, Photography. 5:00 p.m. 4:00-5:00 p.m. Adapting to Winter. Prepare for 27 30 31 1 2 February classroom visits. No prior experience Volunteer necessary. Naturalist Saturday Training. miniNaturalists Kids Activity. February 7 miniNaturalists Pre-K Program, Adapting to Winter, Pre-K Program, Winter 10:00-11:00 a.m. $3; $1 MNHC members. 4:00-5:00 p.m. 10:00-11:00 a.m. Ecology Walk, February 9 Saturday Kids Activity, 2:00-3:00 p.m.

2:00-3:00 p.m. Family Winter Ecology Walk. glowimages.com/ Dmitry Maslov $3; $1 MNHC members. 3 6 7 8 9 February 12 Spring Master Naturalist Course, Evening 4:00-7:00 p.m. Tuesdays to May 7, with three Lecture full-day field trips on March 2, April 13 and Great Series. Backcountry Spring Master May 4. $395; 3 college credits available. Medicine, 7:00 p.m. horned Naturalist Course. Call 327.0405 to register. owls begin Tuesdays to May 7 February February 13 Evening Lecture, 7:00 p.m. nesting 4:00-7:00 p.m. Gallery Backcountry Medicine: MT Species and Their Opening, 6:00- Potential Medicinal Uses with Rustem Medora. $4 10 11 12 7:00 p.m. 13 14 15 16 suggested donation; MNHC members free. February 13 Gallery Opening, 6:00 p.m. Jocelyn Catterson: Wildlife Photography. Glacial miniNaturalists February 20 Glacial Lake Missoula Chapter Lake Missoula Pre-K Program, Meeting, 4:00-5:00 p.m. Open to the public. Chapter Meeting, 10:00-11:00 a.m. February 21 miniNaturalists Pre-K Program, 4:00-5:00 p.m. 10:00-11:00 a.m. $3; $1 MNHC members. February 27 7:00 p.m. 19 20 21 22 23 Evening Lecture, Creatures in the Soil —Let’s Open the Black Box with Ylva Lekberg. $4 suggested donation; MNHC members free. Evening Lecture March March Spring March Gallery all month. Jocelyn Catterson: Series. Creatures in the Soil, 7:00 p.m. Gallery, Master Wildlife Photography. all month. Jocelyn Naturalist Course. Catterson: Wildlife Full-day Photography. field trip. 10 John Good, YNP 26 27 28 1 2 Programs and events held at MNHC - 120 Hickory Street - unless otherwise noted. get outside calendar SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY Volunteer March 6 Volunteer Naturalist Training, Naturalist Saturday 4:00-5:00 p.m. An Experiment in Lift. Training. miniNaturalists Kids Activity. Prepare for March classroom visits. An Experiment in Lift, Pre-K Program, Ice Age Animals, No prior experience necessary. 4:00-5:00 p.m. 10:00-11:00 a.m. 2:00-3:00 p.m. March 7 miniNaturalists Pre-K Program, 10:00-11:00 a.m. $3; $1 MNHC members. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 March 9 Saturday Kids’ Activity, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Evening Evening Ice Age Animals. $3, $1 MNHC members. Bluebirds Lecture. Lecture. March 13 Evening Lecture, 7:00 p.m. Cabin & red-wing Cabin Fever, 7:00 p.m. The Montana Native Fever with the Glacial Lake Missoula Chapter. $4 Plant Society presents suggested donation; MNHC members free. blackbirds Bill Caras and Jennie Meinershagen, March 14 Evening Lecture, 7:30 p.m. return 7:30 p.m. The Montana Native Plant Society presents 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Bill Caras and Jennie Meinershagen. Free. March 20 Glacial Lake Missoula Chapter Saturday Meeting, 4:00-5:00 p.m. Open to the public. miniNaturalists March 21 miniNaturalists Pre-K Program, Glacial Lake Missoula Discovery Day. Pre-K Program, 10:00-11:00 a.m. $3; $1 MNHC members. Chapter Meeting, Snow Geese Migration, 10:00-11:00 a.m. 7:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. 4:00-5:00 p.m. March 23 Saturday Discovery Day, 7:00 a.m- 6:00 p.m. Snow Geese Migration. $60, $50 MNHC members. 17 20 21 22 23 March 29 Evening Lecture, 7:00 p.m. The Material Culture of Local Tribes with Tim Ryan. Evening Saturday $4 suggested donation; MNHC members free. Lecture. Discovery Day for March 30 Saturday Discovery Day for Families, The Material Culture of Families. Cordage time TBA. Cordage Making and Bow Drill Fires Local Tribes, 7:00 p.m. Making and Bow Drill with Tim Ryan. Fires, time TBA. April Gallery all month. Zoological Museum. Gallery Opening Wednesday, April 10, 24 YNP 27 28 29 30 6:00-7:00 p.m. Volunteer April 3 Volunteer Naturalist Training, Naturalist 4:00-5:00 p.m. Fill the Bill. Prepare for April Training. miniNaturalists April classroom visits. No prior experience Fill the Bill, Pre-K Program, necessary. April 4:00-5:00 p.m. 10:00-11:00 a.m. April 4 miniNaturalists Pre-K Program, Gallery, all 10:00-11:00 a.m. $3; $1 MNHC members. month. Zoological Museum. April 10 Evening Lecture, 7:00 p.m. 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lynx with John Squires. $4 suggested donation; Evening Spring MNHC members free. Lecture. Master April 17 Volunteer Naturalist Training, Glacier Lynx, 7:00 p.m. Naturalist Course. 3:30-5:30 p.m. VNS Field Trip Training. Learn lilies bloom April Full-day field trip. how to teach kids about the flora and fauna of through the Gallery during the May VNS school snow Opening. Zoological field trips. No prior experience necessary. Museum, 6:00- April 17 Glacial Lake Missoula Chapter Meeting, 7 8 9 7:00 p.m. 10 11 12 13 4:00-5:00 p.m. Open to the public. Volunteer April 18 miniNaturalists Pre-K Program, Naturalist 10:00-11:00 a.m. $3; $1 MNHC members. VNS Field Trip miniNaturalists Naturalist Field April 20 Training, 3:30-5:30 p.m. Pre-K Program, Naturalist Field Day, 10:00-11:00 a.m. Day. Spring 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Spring Mushrooms. GLM Mushrooms, April 24 Evening Lecture, 7:00 p.m. 9:00 a.m.- Meeting. Naturalist Trivia Night. $4 suggested donation; 5:00 p.m. 4:00-5:00 p.m. MNHC members free. 16 17 18 19 20 April 27 Saturday Kids’ Activity, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Evening Animal Locomotion. $3; $1 MNHC members. Saturday Lecture. Kids Activity. Naturalist Trivia Night, Animal Locomotion, Look for these program 7:00 p.m. 2:00-3:00 p.m. symbols in Montana Naturalist and on our website at www. MontanaNaturalist.org. Ed Austin & Herb Jones, YNP 23 24 25 26 27 Spring Adult Program Master March Naturalist Course. May Youth Program Full-day field trip.

Volunteer Opportunity

28 29 30 1 2 3 4 11 Visit www.MontanaNaturalist.org for directions. To register or to learn more, call MNHC at 327.0405. Photo by Vitaly Smolygin Vitaly by Photo The constellations that are visible during The constellations that First, identify Using a sky map is simple. The stars you find with your map may, hough many of us bemoan the lack of us bemoan the lack hough many should we hours in winter, of daylight the long winter nights remember that By Courtney Bennett Winter Stargazing T can provide a perfect opportunity for hours of a perfect opportunity can provide stargazing. Ursa Major (the Great the winter months include need the Bull and Orion. All you Bear), Taurus clothing and a winter sky to view them is warm you to identify all of the map, which will enable the northern hemisphere constellations visible in as the constellations during the winter as well sky year-round. that remain in the night you are facing (e.g., the cardinal direction hold the map up to the sky in front south). Now, of you, placing the side of the map labeled with the direction you are facing positioned down. continue As you turn to view more of the sky, rotating your sky map so that the direction you are facing is always at the bottom of the map. upon first observation, seem to shine white. a But a closer look reveals that stars come in kaleidoscope of colors, with the color of a star dependent upon its temperature: bluish stars are the hottest (up to five times hotter than our sun!); white stars are slightly cooler; yellow stars, like our sun, are next in line; and coolest are red and orange stars, which may be less than half as hot as our sun. Quality sky maps and can be found for free at www.skymaps.com can also You www.geody.com/star_charts.php. download smartphone apps such as Star Chart With a sky map handy, or Mobile Observatory. let those long winter nights be the beginning of endless hours of astronomical exploration! — guide IST WINTER 2012-13 L URA

T A Telescopes gave scientists the first deeper look into our universe. Over time Telescopes The search the main focus of a new project for exoplanets is now called A few planets and moons have water or ice, atmospheres,A few planets and moons seasons, or even

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This exoplanet candidate is just two- thirds the size of Earth, making it one of the smallest on record. Located a it its mere 33 light-years away, star scorching close--so close that in all likelihood it lacks an atmosphere, and might even have a molten surface, impression. as shown in this artist’s they have been vastly improved, into massive devices using and have developed reflecting mirrors light years into space: just the sort that can see of telescope of our solar system. Astronomersneeded to see exoplanets, or planets outside detect exoplanets by observing dips in the light emitted from a star as a planet passes in front sighted 2,321 possible of it. As of early 2012, scientists had planets in the surrounding galaxies. They predict that between 2040 and 2250, over one million more exoplanets will be found. observatory will be the first exoplanet MINERVA MINERVA. of its kind with robotic telescopes capable of photometry (measures of the intensity of light) and spectroscopy (measures of the light spectrum given off by a star). With this scientists and students will search for exoplanets in our galactic new technology, neighborhood (50 to 60 light years away) and determine if there are any that can sustain life. Once again, we are on the brink of an exciting new era of discovery. —By Windom Tilton (SSC) Hurt NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. I Spy with My Telescopic Eye I Spy with My Telescopic Hundreds of years ago, people like Bernard and Galileo Galilei de Fontenelle made brilliant observations about our solar system with crude telescopes. With these early telescopes, astronomers observed a slight wobble in the path of stars and theorized that planets (and specifically their traveling through the night sky, gravitational pull) caused the wobble. weather, but as far as we have discovered, but as far as only Earthweather, things. On has all of these Earth, the conditions have been perfect to createlife. Intelligent life— and sustain only on Earthand life in general—exists But considering . . . as far as we know. the vast number of planets that are out in the universe, there is infinite possibility that another planet like ours exists. Earth It? Is One of a Kind . . . Or Is a solar system and that our sun was the only star with It had long been thought as far back as 1686, one forward-thinkingorbiting planets. However, scientist, Bernard many other worlds may exist and be de Fontenelle, speculated that estimate that each star (of which there scientists are an inhabited. Today, estimated three of 1.6 planets, meaning sextillion in the universe) has an average there are even more planets than stars! Is There Anyone Out There? Out Anyone Is There outside get

MONTANA

Special Pull-Out Section: pull out and post these pages for handy reference. 1212 community focus Scott Debnam and Phillip Welch. The three collaborated to create the Master Beekeeping Certificate Program, a series of beekeeping courses with set standards in which students must take and pass certain proficiency tests in order to be certified. Their goal in offering the program is to provide novice beekeepers with the solid foundation they need to begin keeping bees: a combination of practical information and actual hands-on experience in a bee yard. I watched as Bromenshenk opened a hive, carefully pried a sticky, glistening comb from its neighbors, and gently lifted it out. Thousands of bees formed a rippling black and yellow carpet on both sides of the comb, and the humming sound intensified. Despite my protective gear, I couldn’t help feeling a

Photo by Allison De Jong little nervous, especially when he handed the comb to me. It was surprisingly heavy. One Get Your Buzz On . . . of Bromenshenk’s assistants pumped smoke toward the bees, and they (and I) calmed down. With the Master Beekeeping Certificate Program Learning to feel comfortable with By Allison De Jong the hives is one of the end results of the beekeeping program, which is offered at three different levels: Apprentice, Journeyman, and o you love honey? Have you ever Their goal in offering the program Master. While all three levels will be offered wanted to make your own? Well, is to provide novice beekeepers with this coming summer, last year the only class Dthanks to a new series of classes offered available was the Apprentice-level, which through UM’s School of Extended and the solid foundation they need to focuses on the basics: bee biology, how to care Lifelong Learning, dipping into golden jars begin keeping bees: a combination of for bees through every month of the year, and of your very own honey may be closer than practical information and actual common ailments and pests and how to treat you think. them. The course culminates with students This past July, while observing one hands-on experience in a bee yard. gearing up in their bee suits and visiting the morning of the four-day intro beekeeping bee yard to see the bees (and beekeepers) class, I found myself at the UM bee yard at in action—and to start practicing the skills Fort Missoula, wearing a white suit, netted they’ve learned in the classroom. hat, and long thick gloves, surrounded by the At the end of the morning, I removed humming of hundreds of thousands of bees. my gloves, hat and bee suit, and felt a little Yes, that IS as nerve-wracking as it sounds. bit of a letdown—part of me still wanted But not to honey bee expert and researcher to be back in the bee yard, heart rate and Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk, who has been breathing accelerated, with the warm sound working with these insects for decades. of buzzing bees all around me. I look forward For most of those years, the number to coming back. of bee colonies and beekeepers had been

Photo by Marjorie Young dropping in the U.S., from over 5 million Interested in keeping bees? For more information colonies in the 1940s to 2.5 million today. about the next cycle of classes (which will be But in the past several years, despite—or offered between May and August 2013), see perhaps because of?—colony collapse disorder, SELL’s website at www.umt.edu/ce/extended/ the trend has reversed, and more and more beekeeping/ or call 243.6431. You can also join people are becoming interested in keeping their community on Facebook (www.facebook. bees (and, yes, in feasting on the sweet honey com/masterbeekeeping). they produce). Along with that interest Top: Students getting hands-on comes the need for hands-on education from experience with the hives. experienced beekeepers. Bottom: Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk, who Enter Bromenshenk and his fellow prefers not to “suffocate in a bee suit,” Photo by Allison De Jong biologist-beekeepers and long-time colleagues holds up a comb for closer inspection. 13 WINTER 2012-13 MONTANA NATURALIST far afield

Of Blizzards & Birds

By Mike Canetta

can remember as a young boy Resigned to being stuck in the house for driven down by the harsh weather in search of wearing my pajamas inside out the foreseeable future, I began strategizing food. Like most songbirds that stick around and doing highly unchoreographed ways to fight back against the inevitable onset Montana for the colder months of the year, dances in hopes that the sky would of cabin fever. Read a book, I thought. But I Evening Grosbeaks rely almost exclusively on drop heaps of fluffy white snow onto couldn’t bring myself to read; I knew I’d spend seeds. During severe snowstorms, when the the ground, so much that we would the next four months of school reading. Then ground and trees are plastered with snow, a Ibe officially “snowed in.” Hot chocolate, my planning was abruptly interrupted by a bird feeder represents not only the solution to snowmen, and a day where the imagination loud thump on the side of the house. What optimal foraging, but a lifeline. is allowed to run wild through snow-filled happened next was a snow day miracle. Within minutes, the seed was gone. I put adventures: What more could a kid ask for? The bird feeder on my kitchen window out more, and they consumed it in similar

As I’ve gotten older, however, the idea had been taken over by six large birds. fashion. My backyard looked like an avian Photo by Mike Canetta of being trapped in my home, unable to “Evening Grosbeaks!” I shouted excitedly. refugee camp. As daylight waned, I put out get to work, school, or other commitments I watched as the flamboyant yellow birds one last large helping of seeds in hopes that has lost some of its appeal. Whether the birds would remain for longer. I like it or not, it is a reality that I The next day, I awoke to must live with, especially in Montana. identical conditions. The ground But last winter, I learned that the was now covered with well over inconveniences a blizzard presents a foot of snow, and it showed need not blind me from the pleasures no sign of letting up. I groggily that it can bring. walked to the kitchen to start a On January 18th, 2012, pot of coffee, and when I opened a massive extratropical cyclone the blinds, I was stunned. The encroached on the western United Evening Grosbeaks had stuck States, bloated with moisture from around, but they were now joined the warm waters of the Pacific. At by Black-capped Chickadees, my home in Missoula, I watched as Dark-eyed Juncos, House Finches, the snow steadily fell, accumulating Pine Siskins, White-breasted rapidly. It became obvious within an Nuthatches, and Cedar Waxwings, Photo by Katy Manley hour that I would all waiting on nearby have to shelf my trees for me to refill the plans to visit Jackson My backyard looked like an avian refugee camp. feeder. When a bird Hole before the finds a plentiful food semester began. My bags already packed and voraciously dug through the sunflower seeds source, it does not remain a secret for long. ready to go, I was deflated. I made a pot of with their massive beaks. Overcome by Instinctually, birds will follow others to these tea and hunkered down, half-expecting the curiosity, I inched closer to the window to get hotspots. snow to stop before nightfall just to spite me a better look, but I lacked the stealth required, The instant I put more seed out, the now that I had called off the trip for good. scaring away my visitors. My heart dropped. grosbeaks returned, using their size to It didn’t. The usually serene Rattlesnake But disappointment soon gave way to bliss outmuscle any ambitious challengers. This was Valley had been transformed into a cold, when I discovered over twenty more grosbeaks resource competition in its purest form. I held violent place. The wind howled, whipping up in a nearby cottonwood tree. my breath as one daring Pine Siskin attempted snow and reducing visibility to a few hundred I quickly opened the window and put out an ill-advised coup d’état, nearly getting feet—prohibiting travel in any form, and another pound of seed. They flocked to the impaled for its mutiny. making simply going outside an unpleasant feeder, trampling on each other to get a piece The grosbeaks, satiated at last, retreated if not dangerous proposition. I was going of the pie. I had little doubt that these winter to nearby trees for a mid-day siesta. nowhere fast. residents of the nearby coniferous forest were Once they were out of the way, a flock 14 MONTANA NATURALIST WINTER 2012-13 Above: Evening Grosbeaks in a cottonwood tree, waiting for the next course. Opposite page: Evening Grosbeaks congregate at the bird feeder. Junco photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

From left: Black-capped Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Evening Grosbeak Photo by Mike Canetta Photo by Eugene Beckes of chickadees invaded. In contrast to the sight. In between trips to the feeder, the birds restless and ready to move. I reflected on rambunctious grosbeaks, these little birds were remained eerily still, moving only occasionally my anguish two days earlier when I realized saints. They lined up in orderly fashion along to shake the heavy snow off their fragile the storm would inconvenience my plans. a fence post, and then proceeded to arrive feathers. The chickadees no longer resembled I laughed at the irony: what was merely an at the feeder one at a time. Champions of their elegant selves, puffed up to twice their inconvenience for me was to them a threat optimal foraging, each chickadee methodically normal size to insulate themselves from the to survival, one I enjoyed helping defend sifted through seeds, picking up several before falling temperatures. What I was witnessing them against. Getting snowed in ended up selecting the one that was just the right was something between carefully calculated being a worthwhile adventure. Sure, there weight. Once it found its perfect meal, the action and desperation. My backyard was were no inside-out pajamas or snow forts. bird would fly off with its bounty, making literally a case study in avian behavioral But the birds had proven to me that, even as way for the next hungry chickadee. As I gazed ecology. As night fell, I wondered if this story an adult, I can still enjoy the pleasures that in amusement, I couldn’t help but think I was would end with their demise. come with a good blizzard.

watching nature’s version of musical chairs: When the snow stopped on January musical chickadees. 20th, the birds disappeared, their departure —Mike Canetta is a graduate student in the The day progressed and the snow as abrupt and unexpected as their arrival Environmental Studies program at the University continued to fall, now piled at least two feet two days earlier. Having been snowed in for of Montana. He spends his summers in Grand deep. The birds raided the feeder relentlessly, forty-eight hours, sunshine was a welcome Teton National Park working as a park ranger stocking up in a storm that had no end in sign, and the weary birds were undoubtedly naturalist. 15 WINTER 2012-13 MONTANA NATURALIST 16 MONTANA N A T URA News from the Montana L IST WINTER2012-13 IST imprints Natural History Center Animal Wonders, Inc. Educator oftheYear Award: you are aninspirationtousall! passion, andcompassion, andgrateful,too,to gettoseetheintricaciesofnature through her eyes. Ellen, for manyyears; andnow continuestobedeeplyinvolved inmultipleways. We are sogratefulforhervision, ontheBoardfounding membersofMNHC; sheserved comes through ourdoors.Ellen was,infact,oneofthe nature thatwe strive who topass alongtoeveryone think ofnoonewhobetterexemplifies thepassion for Ellen Knight“Sense of Wonder” Classroom; we can such as Visiting Naturalist intheSchools. students allover thestatewithourflagshipprograms this classroom thatwillallow ustoreach teachersand videoconferencingplan tobringnew technologyto accommodate upto75studentsand/orteachers. We middle ofourbuildingtocreate room anew thatcan space, sowe are remodeling unfinishedspaceinthe have completelyoutgrown ourexistingclassroom MNHC hasahappychallenge:ourprograms Wonder” Classroom Ellen Knight“Senseof be anythingbutfun. Thank you, Jessi &Augusto! excited students,thesewildlifeeducatorsalwaysputeducationover thoughitnever seemsto entertainment, and Augusto are inalivingroom orinaclassroom surrounded fullof party by anenthusiasticbirthday over 40speciesofanimalsfrom thenative Red Fox totheexotic Crimson-Rumped Toucanet. Whether Jessi incorporated Montana’s sciencestandards andhave grown toinclude years ofworking ineducationalfacilitieswithanimalsofallspecies. educational programs intheknowledge andexperiencetheygainedfrom create Montana’s own very Zoo to You. Jessi andAugusto basedtheir livedisplaced exotic animalpresentations animalswithperforming to education toMontana. They combinedtheirpassionsofrescuing 2008 withthedream ofbringingauniqueformenvironmental Jessi andAugustoCastañedafoundedAnimal Wonders in May We spacethe willbenamingourbeautifulnew Over the last several years Animal Wonders’ schoolprograms have her volunteering atMNHC. Thank you, Vicki! eagerly. Vicki isupbeatandenergetic,we are sogratefultohave an infectiousenergywhensheteaches,andthekidsrespond toher notice,too.spring andfall,willingtofillinonshort She has leadingstationsonmultiplefieldtripseach volunteers, cheerfully our mostdependable Visiting Naturalist intheSchoolsfieldtrip or classroom withour Visiting Naturalist kids.She hasbeenoneof behind-the-scenes preparations atMNHCorbeingoutinthefield incredibly generous withhertimeinmanyways—whetherdoing the Montana Master Naturalist Courseinthespringof2010.She’s hasbeenenthusiasticallyinvolvedVicki withMNHCsincetaking Volunteer oftheYear Award: Vicki Cox Vicki Christine Wren with MNHCnaturalist Ellen Knight(right)

All photos by Merle Loman Fall Celebration A Success! Once again, we’d like to convey our sincere thanks to everyone who attended MNHC’s Fall Celebration and Auction at the DoubleTree Hotel on October 5th. Some 225 people helped us raise a generous amount in support of nature education for children and adults. We are especially grateful for your

outstanding response to our Ellen Knight “Sense of Photo by Merle Loman Wonder” Classroom challenge, which will enable us Downtown Dance Collective Mobile Massage & Subway at Southgate Mall to create a new, ample classroom to better reach DraughtWorks Lolo Massage Sue Roy teachers, students, and the community in 2013 Earth and Wood Montgomery Distillery Susan Martinsen and beyond. And, of course, we couldn’t have done *Ecology Project International Mountain Press Publishing Taco Sano Fact and Fiction Murdoch’s *Tamarack it without the following businesses and individuals Families First/Children’s Museum Mustard Seed The Golgi Clinic whose generosity and hard work made the whole Finn and Porter Nancy Bugbee Stone Jewelry *Tom and Melanie Parker event possible. (Please accept our apologies for any Five Valleys Land Trust *Nancy Seiler Trailhead missed names.) Thank you! Flathead Brewing Co. *North Avenue Youth Farm Trappings Studio Frenchtown Duck Hunt (Garden City Harvest and Triple W Equipment Sponsors Anonymous Donor Garage Tees of Missoula Youth Homes) University of Montana Bookstore Allied Waste *April Christofferson Great Harvest Bread Company Open Road Bicycles Upstream Pilates Anderson Zurmuehlen Backcountry Racks Greek Gyro and #1 Gyros *Opportunity Resources Valerie Bayer Boyle, Deveney and Meyer (BDM) Bad Goat Forest Products Green Light *Paul and Jeanne Moseley Walking Stick Toys Butterfly Properties Bernice’s Bakery Grizzly Hackle Pea Green Boat at Wapiti Waters Community Medical Center Betty’s Divine Hailey Schofield Art MT Public Radio Whitney Schwab Cowgirls Salon and Spa Big Dipper Heritage Timber PEAK racquet club YoWaffle First Security Bank Big Sky Beekeepers Hide and Sole *Pearl Cash ZACC Garland Thayer, Raymond Big Sky Brewery Hobie Hare Pink Grizzly Zone 4 Magazine James Financial Services Bitterroot Flower Shop Holiday Inn Downtown Pita Pit ZooCity Apparel Good Food Store *Blackfoot River Outfitters Hu Hot Mongolian Grill Press Box Dr. James Ouellette, DDS Bob Ward and Sons Jack & Wendy Sturgis Pruyn Veterinary Hospital *Live Auction Donors Dr. John Snively *Bonnie Philliber Jaker’s Bar and Grill Rattlesnake Gardens John Fletcher and Book Exchange *Janet McMillan ReCreate Auction Volunteers: Margaret Kingsland Boone & Crockett Club Joel & Vicki Fleischer Rio Verde Golf Club Amanda Foxcroft Julie Gardner Botanie Soap *John and Terri Herzer River Otter Fly Anna Semple Merrill Lynch Break Espresso *Karen Knudsen Rockin’ Rudy’s Beth Baker Missoula Pediatric Dentistry *Brian Williams *Kathy Settevendemie Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Blakely Hay Montana Cancer Specialists Buttercup Market and Café *Katy Gill Rocky Mountain Hearing, Carin Williams Montana Educators’ *Butterfly Properties Kettlehouse (northside) Glen Hladek Carolyn Hart Credit Union Caffe Firenze *Kim and Ruth Reineking Rocky Mountain Map Gallery Christine Wren Rick and Penney Oncken *Carol Ewen Kristy Beck-Nelson Ruby Moon Originals, Claire Muller The Pea Green Boat at *Caroline and Will Kurtz Lance Schelvan Laura Snyder Edi Calvert Montana Public Radio Cecile Sorensen *Larry Flanagan Runner’s Edge Heidi May Dr. Robert Korenberg Childbloom Guitar Program Le Petit Sam Case Kallie Moore Twin Cranes Dental Group Christine Wren *Lela Autio *Sam Manno Kara Robinson Western Montana Clinic OB/GYN Ciao Mambo Lisa & Scott Mills *Scotty’s Table Mark Hanson William Rossbach *Clark Fork Coalition Lisa Bickell Selvedge Merle Loman WGM Group *Claudia Possiel Main Street Pilates *Skip Cleek Mike Canetta Coldstone Creamery Margaret Barton Sorella’s Day Spa and Nancy Gibson Auction Contributors Cowgirls Salon & Spa *Mike and Bernice Johnston Spa Boutique Shanna Ungate 2nd St. Sushi & Asian Grill Cracker Barrel Missoula Bicycle Works Stella & Dot / Deb Jones Susan Martinsen A Balanced Body David Keast Fine Art Missoula Butterfly House Steve Loken Suzy Wiseheart Alpine Canine *Denver Holt & Insectarium *Steve Luedecke, Summer Tyler McRae Amy Hetzler *Don Jones Missoula Maze Sun Garden and Brew Val Hingston Animal Wonders Don Stierle Missoula Urban Demonstration Stevensville Playhouse Wendi Sims Schupbach Annie Garde *Double Arrow Lodge Project *Stuart and Mindy Goldberg 2012 Foundation Support MNHC gratefully American Endowment Foundation Kendeda Fund Norcross Wildlife Foundation Ross Charitable Fund acknowledges the Cinnabar Foundation LEAW Family Foundation Pleiades Foundation Southgate Mall Elizabeth Wakeman Henderson Lolo National Forest Plum Creek Foundation Springfield Foundation following foundations and Charitable Foundation M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust PPL Montana Community U.S. Forest Service organizations that help make First Security Bank Max and Betty Swanson Foundation University of Montana our educational programs Harrington Charitable Unitrust Foundation Rick and Penney Oncken William H. and Margaret M. possible. Thank you! Hellgate Hunters and Anglers Merrill Lynch Family Foundation Wallace Foundation 17 WINTER 2012-13 MONTANA NATURALIST MAGPIE MARKET Come. Hear the Howl. Animal Rocky Mountain College offers environmental studies, science, Tracking and management degrees with study in the Wild Swan opportunities in Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, the Costa Rican rain forest, Tanzania, the Cana- dian Arctic, and the American Prairie Reserve. Undergraduate research opportunities are also offered. Jan. 26-27, 2013 rocky.edu • 1511 Poly Drive Billings, Montana 59102 • 1-800-877-6259

Clark Fork School

Nature-based, community-focused education in the heart of the umt.edu/animaltracking Rattlesnake Valley in Missoula

Montana’s Preschool through Fifth Grade First Our student-teacher ratios are 10:1 or less. Certified Financial aid is available. Eco School! Call us today to schedule a tour! 2525 Rattlesnake Drive, Missoula 406.728.3395 www.clarkforkschool.org

What’s Furry, Nurses its Young, and Lives in Montana? Find out in this com- plete guide to all of Montana’s mammals. 500+ color photographs 440 page • 6.5 x 9 Become a Certified $32.00, paper

Mountain Press when ordering Master Naturalist! PUBLISHING COMPANY : P.O. Box 2399 • Missoula, MT 59806 • 406-728-1900 please include $4.00 Sign up for our Spring 2013 800-234-5308 • [email protected] for shipping/handling www.mountain-press.com Montana Master Naturalist Course and learn all about the trees, flowers, animals and insects of the place we call home. Taught by MNHC Naturalist Brian Williams, our popular 12-week course will be offered from 4-7pm on Tuesday evenings from February 12- May 7. For complete details, see the Calendar or visit our website at www.montananaturalist.org.

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MAGPIE MARKET reflections

Silent, and soft, and slow descends the snow. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Elizabeth Claire Rose is an artist and photographer based in Missoula, Montana. She has exhibited her work in various galleries nationally and has participated in international exhibitions. See more of her work at www.elizabethclairerose.com. 19 WINTER 2012-13 MONTANA NATURALIST Non-profit organization US POSTAGE Connecting People with Nature PAID 120 Hickory Street permit 569 Missoula, MT 59801 Missoula, mt www.MontanaNaturalist.org

Montana Natural History Center is an equal opportunity service provider. Montana Natural History Center trips are permitted on the Lolo National Forest (Clause VII.B).

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