Lexi Lynx

Today was the last winter Nature Story Time up at our local state park, and there was a special visitor to end the season on an exciting note! 

Visiting today was a Canada Lynx named Lexie. 

Lynx roam from the treeline in the Arctic, south through the boreal forests of Alaska and Canada, and into the northern United States. We would not normally see Lynx in our area, but we do have bobcats.  Bobcats are smaller than lynx, and have slightly different coats colors and markings.

Lynx have black ear tufts which is one feature that sets them apart from Bobcats in terms of identification. Lexie's are sort of blending in with the twigs here, so look carefully!

Lexie is one-year old and was a bit shy around all the kids, but did fine as long as she stayed close to her caretaker Terri. Her current house-mate, a friendly yellow lab, also made Lexie feel a bit more calm.

 She played like a domestic kitten with pine branches that were wiggled in front of her, and after chilling out for a bit, even let me pet her incredibly soft and fine fur.

Notice her HUGE snowshoe-like feet! This gives the paws an increased surface area and enhances her ability to maneuver on soft snow.

The lynx's tail also differs from the bobcat. A lynx's tail is gray with a black tip, while a bobcat has narrow black bands and a black tip.  Notice Lexie's rear legs are also longer than her front.  This helps her "spring" to catch prey.

For comparison, here is a mature lynx.  Yikes! Beautiful, yet intimidating!

I am told that it would be unusual to see a lynx in the wild as they are uncommon here in Wisconsin, and they are also very secretive.  They are solitary and travel at night to avoid people.  Fine by me.  Though I am glad to have had the chance to meet Lexie and learn about the Canada Lynx in such a beautiful setting!

 

A Special Nature Storytime

After visiting Naturalist Nancy's llama farm, the WISE kids had yet another chance to take part in some llama drama.  Naturalist Julie presents a fun and educational nature program for preschoolers every Thursday at the park with stories, crafts and often there are guest critter visitors. Guess what the focus of this last installment of the summer program was?  Yep.  Llamas. 

The story for this week was Is Your Mama a Llama? and the Wise Kids each took the role of one of the baby animals in the book and helped to present it to the crowd.  We arrived about an hour before story time so the kids could learn their parts.  

Here's a little rehearsal shot:

It was a gorgeous morning and can I just say that I love being in that park!  Love it!  Anyway....

Down at the Camp Interstate shelter, the story timers began to arrive and Julie began with the story, all the while keeping mum about the special animal visitor that would be making an appearance.

  The kids did great with reading their parts and there was lots of audience participation as well.  After the story Julie talked a little about what the WISE kids group was and the special field trip they had taken the day before.  She really talked up how cute the llamas were and then told the group that if they would like to meet a llama, that they should slowly and quietly turn around in their seats and take a look.

This is the what they saw coming across the field behind them:

It's Nancy and Countach!

It was really quite a dramatic moment for all the kids and parents as well.  Nancy talked about some llama basics, including the bad reputation they have for spitting.  She emphasized that they are very gentle animals and spitting is simply a natural defense for them usually against other animals, not people. So stop all the llama hatin'!

Everyone had a chance to come up and meet Countach and feed him a little grain.  He was a perfect gentleman.

It was a great way to wrap up summer Nature Story Time and the WISE Kids, who participated in the program themselves for so long, were pretty proud to have a hand in it.

Winter Nature Storytime -With Aztec!

Winter Nature Storytime is winding down at our favorite local State Park and they have been saving the best for last! I am so glad I had my camera with me! Yesterday's topic was all about owls. Naturalist Julie read to the kids about Owls and then played a variety of owl calls for everyone to hear.




Then there was the passing around of the owl pellets-sort of like hairballs with bones. This is what the owl regurgitates after digesting the nutritious parts of the mouse, vole, whatever, it has recently eaten. Very cool.

At this point Naturalist Barb took over and brought out her beautiful Owl Aztec!

This owl is so cute I just want to eat her up! I had to restrain myself from trying to hug her. I'm sure that would have gone over well...not! I was a little jealous that Barb was able to freely pet this owl's head. It was charming to see Aztec's little eyes close and her head droop as she enjoyed being stroked. So cute! Look at those legs! That was Ben's favorite part! She looks like she is wearing little pants! I can't stand the cuteness! Where, oh where, do I get an owl of my own??


Aztec is a Spectacled Owl and is commonly found in the Amazon Rainforest. She is 17 years old and has lived with Barb for nearly all her life. She is quite healthy and could eventually live another 17 years! She was hatched at the Baltimore Zoo and gifted to the Minnesota Zoo for their bird program. Evidently she was highly "uncooperative" with the trainers at the MN. Zoo and Barb was asked if she might take Aztec for her teaching program. Barb and Aztec have gotten along famously ever since. Barb also takes care of a Golden Eagle and a hawk who cannot sustain themselves in the wild.

After the owl program we took a chilly hike (27 degrees ...brrr) on one of the park's many trails to look for places an owl might like to live.

Charlie contemplates an interesting tree stump. No owl here.

Looking up into the pines.....

.......Ben spotted a nest. But not an owl's nest.

All in all another fun and informative morning at the park. I'm so happy we have this resource so nearby! It is such a great program and it was such a treat to meet Aztec!

Nature Story Time

We have been enjoying going to Nature Story Time at Interstate Park for years now, ever since Ben was 4 I think. Wow! That's a long time!

Julie Fox, the naturalist and educator at the park puts on a fabulous program that is always informative for the kids and more often than not, includes live animals of one sort or another. In the winter we meet at the interpretive center, but during the summer months, story time takes place at a variety of locations throughout the park.

Today we met at beautiful Lake of The Dalles for a program on snakes.

Julie read to the kids first and talked a little bit about snakes in our area (no poisonous ones, WooHoo!).

Then came the main attraction....a baby hognose snake!! It was quite small and cute and all the kids got a chance to hold or pet it. Julie found this snake in her yard this past weekend and has been caring for it in captivity to bring to Nature Story Time. She's so cool!

After much oohing and ahhing over the snake, and a brief but unsuccessful toad hunt (the favorite food of hognose snakes) , the kids moved on to snack time.

For the past couple years, Ben has been the oldest kid at Nature Story Time and has taken on the role of Julie's assistant. He helps to read stories or facilitate activities and he also has the all-important role of snack distributor. Everybody loves the snack guy!

We are so fond of Interstate Park. There are so many diverse trails to hike and such great activities going on all the time. We usually buy a yearly pass and we definitely get our $ worth. We often head over here during the day on school/work days (perk of homeschooling!) and it is so tranquil and not at all crowded. It is like our own private state park.

After finishing up with story time, we had a nice little lunch and played on the playground for a bit.


And, it was actually hot enough today to stop for ice cream on the way home.

Any day that ends with ice cream has to be good!