Minnesota Day Four

Bear 101. No - we didn't see one in the woods. We went to a talk about bears at the Township Hall across the street. Lyn Rogers was there, but he did not give the lecture. There wasn't much that we didn't already know. The one interesting thing (for those of us living less than a mile from a guy who feeds and studies wild black bears, anyway) was a study of 3 groups of orphaned bears that were collared and tracked. One group had very little contact with humans before being released into the wild, one had a moderate amount of contact with humans, and one had daily contact. They were released into the same area, and all had the same likelihood of becoming "nuisance bears." The bottom line: BE BIG; BE STILL; BE LOUD. There you go.

The day was PERFECT weather-wise. A little breeze, beautiful skies, temps in the upper 70s. Awesome. We played and played outside. I took Z out in the canoe. Unfortunately it was a little TOO breezy, and I still haven't learned my lesson about how I should head out INTO the wind. When it was time to turn around, I could barely control the canoe, and I wound up WALKING it along the shore back home. My paddling skills could definitely use some improvement! Of course this all happened with an audience, as the Knapps and a group of friends were all out on their dock. Nice.