Happy Sea Otter Awareness Week!
Enhydra lutris
Range: North America & Asia
Length: 3-5 feet
Weight: 40-90 pounds
Lifespan: 10-20 years in the wild
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environmental science
Creature Feature – Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus lencocephalus
Range: North America
Wingspan: 6-8 feet
Weight: 9-14 pounds (females are about 25% larger than males)
Lifespan: 20-30 in the wild; up to 50 years in captivity
Creature Feature – Rocky Mountain Goat
New creature feature in honor of the Black Hills mountain goat population survey coming up next weekend. If you’re in the area (or are looking for a last minute roadtrip) and are interested in volunteering for the survey visit goatalliance.org for more info.
Oreamnos americanus
Range: primarily the Rocky Mountains and Cascade Range
Height: about 3.5 feet at the shoulder
Weight: 100 to 300 pounds
Lifespan: 9 to 13 years in the wild. Up to 20 years in captivity.
Creature Feature – Polar Bear
International Polar Bear Day is coming up on February 27th! Read on to learn more about these cold loving sea bears and how you can help them!
Burn, Beetle, Burn!
photo by Paul Horsted / DakotaPhoto.com
This weekend was the second annual Burning Beetle festival in Custer, South Dakota, a celebration in dishonor of the ravenous mountain pine beetle, complete with the burning of a 28-foot wooden beetle ala Burning Man.
But what is a mountain pine beetle, and why is it so destructive?
Creature Feature – Caribou
Rangifer tarandus
Range: Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Northern Europe, Northern Asia
Height: 30–60 inches at the shoulder
Weight: 130–600 pounds
Lifespan: up to 20 years
Caribou inhabit the tundra and boreal forests in Canada, the northern United States, Europe, and Asia. In Europe and the Russian Far East caribou are kept in herds and used for meat, fur, and milk. Tame caribou pull sleighs and carry loads. In Europe caribou are called reindeer. In the United States a small domesticated type of caribou is called a reindeer.
Prescribed Burns & The Natural Forest Cycle
Cold Brook Prescribed Burn – Wind Cave National Park
With firefighters performing several prescribed burns in the Black Hills area over the past week I was inspired to write a blog on the importance of fire in forest management and the natural forest cycle.
Graffiti Sky Photography 