Appeal to the Masses

And by masses, i mean the three of you that might read my blog on a non-regular basis.

My college friend Andy has been traveling in Asia for the past year. He has his own blog (listed as Andy's not Here, man on the side of my blog). His funds are running a tad on the low side, and I would really appreciate it if you took a few minutes out of your day, read some of his blog posts and then consider contributing to the continuation of his trip. Andy's a great guy, and I'm sure he has something amazing planned if he's even considering asking for money.

You can follow the link here to go to his site directly.

The life (and dissection) of an otter

I need to place a disclaimer on this post. If seeing dead animals get cut open is gross to you... i suggest you do not scroll down. Thanks!


So, Dave (grad student) was driving home from Sedro-Woolley one day and saw a dead otter on the side of the road. He kept on driving, yet was very intrigued by said otter. He decided later on that day to return to the side of the road, collect the otter, bring it back to the ELC and dissect it. Somehow, if you're in my program, this train of thought seems slightly normal. slightly.

So, the Otter remained in the ELC freezer for a few months as Dave filled out the necessary paperwork with the Fish & Wildlife Department so he could open up the Otter. Daves original priority was to use the pelt for future education with the kids. Clint (another grad student) wanted to get involved and have someone take photos of the process, and then he wanted to draw various parts of the otter. Clint is an AMAZING artist, and his work is similar to those you see in science journals or flower identification guides, so this all kinda made sense. kinda.

On Thursday afternoon, the word is out that at 2pm, the otter dissection would begin... so, due to pure human curiosity I had to go. Usually, I do not have a stomach for any of this, but somehow I was able to watch part of it, or duck behind people when I wasn't willing to watch. Seeing the skin get pulled off an animal was just a little too much for me. So, I present you with photos and a slight dialogue with each. Once again, there is blood and dead otter involved, so you might not want to scroll down.

The otter. Somehow at this stage, it just seemed like a frozen stuffed animal, so I could hang out and joke around. no big deal... right?

Okay... this is where it starts getting questionable. Dave begins cutting in with the equivalent of a pumpkin carving knife. A waft of death & musk enters the room once the body is opened up. Previously someone mentioned that Otters do not have musk glands... we found that they were incorrect.

More of the skin being removed from the otter and the internal cavity being shown. You could see where the trauma occurred from the car hitting the otter.

Shelby & Dave begin peeling the skin off of the otter. Everything on the pelt was intact since they were able to pull it off like the casing on sausage. EW

this is where I checked out and started taking photos of other things in the room... like the green of Codi's beanie, or the floor. I left promptly after this photo since they had just taken out the heart, liver & kidney.

I was only there for the first 1.5 hours, but I believe the full dissection continued for another 4 hours. I know this whole thing might seem incredibly bizarre, but it is interesting having this kind of opportunity to look at an animal so closely and try to understand its life more clearly. We were able to make observations you might not take the time to make if you see something like this in the museum such as: Wow, its paws are webbed and his claws are quite long. Hmm, it's really difficult to figure out its gender, I wonder why that is? or The tail is incredibly muscular, i didn't realize otters relied on their tails so much.

I do know that Clint & Dave are planning on writing a blog for the institute to include Clints drawings and I will put up a link once that is posted. You can also keep your eye out since it will be on the right hand panel of my blog under "Chattermarks"

blowing it

Sorry, i really am. I PROMISE I will write something tonight and then post it tomorrow. A few topics for the upcoming week are:

- dissecting an otter
- dancing on chairs
- being a park ranger (yeah!)
- life in general

Sorry to have fallen off the wagon, im working on getting back on right now.

So, about that trip down the river

I've published a few blogs for school on the trip down the river... i highly suggest you check them out since i spent way too much time trying to write them up.

You can check them out here

Radio silence

bzzzzzzzzzzzzz

i've been working over break on a lot of different things, that include:
- writing a blog for someone else (i'll post that here once it's published)
- working (wait, what?!)
- traveling back east
- getting a christmas tree
- snowboarding

So, here are some photos from those various endeavors. I'll get back into the habit of posting regularly post-holiday. So for now, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Baker yesterday = ominous

ARRRRR - pirates of the Caribbean ride

Merry Christmas Disney!

Christmas in Bellingham!!

We'll be in bellingham for the next few weeks, so come on up and visit!!

so, i lied

I am infact not going to have a meaningful post at all... probably not for a few days. Got back and had a friendly reminder (kick in the teeth) that I have a ton of work due for school by Thursday. And by ton, I mean, I spent 3 hours on 1/5th of it last night, and i still have 4/5 to go. Totally do-able, just not do-able along with a very meaningful post on the grand canyon. So, i'm sorry, I"ll have to leave that for another day.

For now, I leave you with this. it's raining outside, i'm inside, and the EALR requirement for 6-8th grade science I am trying to write a lesson plan for is:

In prior grades students learned how ecosystems change and how these changes affect the capacity of an ecosystem to support populations. In grades 6-8 students learn to apply key concepts about ecosystems to understand the interactions among organisms and the nonliving environment. Essential concepts include the process of photosynthesis used by plants to transform the energy of sunlight into food energy, which is used by other organisms, and possible causes of environmental change. Students also learn to investigate environmental issues and to use science to evaluate different solutions to problems. Knowledge of how energy flows through ecosystems is a critical aspect of students' understanding of how energy sustains life on the planet, including human life.

Ecosystems are continuously changing. Causes of these changes include nonliving factors such as the amount of light, range of temperatures, and availability of water, as well as living factors such as the disappearance of different species through disease, predation, habitat destruction and overuse of resources or the introduction of new species.

This will go well with my Lesson Plan titled: Pika Project. Kids get to measure various distances in the rock garden area, which is prime Pika habitat. They will then need to assess the impact of a warming earth on the pikas home turf and if the little guy will have to move up in elevation to stay alive. hoooray.

ugh.

home

Just got back last night from Arizona. My first step to re-acclimate was to stay up past 8pm and to sleep past 6am. The first part was successful but here I am at 6:21 very awake, and have been for about 30 minutes now. My camera unfortunately had it's last gasp this morning before succumbing to the powers of sand, so it might be a bit before i can get pictures up. I'll take some time this weekend to work on a full and legitimate trip review. But, i'll leave you with this.

To float down the grand canyon is an experience that can never wholly be explained or understood unless you touch the water yourself.