Beavers – The Best Dam Habitat Builders
Price: $65.00 Instructor: Carol Medlicott – Ph.D.
Discover the amazing beaver! Beaver are second only to human in their ability to alter their environment. The habitats they create are vital to the livelihood of a huge number of species from Neo-tropical birds to insect to elk. We will spend the day learning and experiencing the habitat beaver create, their unique biology and methods of coexisting productively with this essential keystone species.
Meeting Place: Glacier Park Field Camp Meeting Hall. (See campus map)
Accommodations: Students and their families who wish to stay in the Field Camp cabins before or after the course can reserve a spot in advance by calling (406) 755-1211. Lodging is $32/person/night. See Field Camp description for information about the facility.
Food: For the field, please bring sack lunches, snacks to eat, and plenty of water. For students staying overnight at camp, we have a kitchen in which you can cook meals and space available for food storage.
Equipment: Please see basic gear list. Most important are comfortable hiking shoes, backpack, rain gear, hat, sunscreen and binoculars.
Physical Requirements: We will be hiking less than two miles on relatively flat trails. However, some of the locations are open and can be very warm, so be prepared for heat.
Recommended Reading:
– Beaver Tales: Audrey Tournay and the Aspen Valley Beavers Audrey Tournay, Boston Mills Press, 2003. -The Beaver: Natural History of a Wetlands Engineer Dietland Müller-Schwarze and Lixing Sun, Cornell University Press, 2003. -Stokes Nature Guides: A Guide to Animal Tracking and Behavior Donald and Lillian Stokes, Little, Brown and Company, 1986.Tentative Itinerary: Itinerary is subject to change due to weather, trail closures, beaver activity etc.
We will meet at Field Camp at 9 AM for an introduction and classroom session on beaver biology, their interesting adaptations, and the natural history of the area. After eating lunch we will depart field camp for field exploration in Lower MacDonald Creek. We will respectfully examine active beavers’ lodges from a distance and keep our eyes peeled for a beaver at work. In the field, we will be offered a first hand view of how these magnificent creatures alter their environment and influence countless species around them. After our time in the field we will return to field camp and we will conclude the course by about 4pm.
Evening is the perfect time to watch beaver in action and late summer is when they are most active, so if the group is interested, we can regroup after dinner for an optional stroll along Lower McDonald Creek for some tail slapping activity.
Academic Credit: This course may be taken for 8 Office of Public Instruction (OPI) renewal units (for teacher’s license renewal). If you wish to take an Institute course for OPI credit, you will be asked to fill out paperwork and pay a $20 credit fee at the start of your course, payable to Flathead Valley Community College.
We are ALWAYS happy when Montana decides to celebrate beavers. Of course tracking down beaver sign seems an awesome way to learn. I checked for Dr. Medlicott but can only find a professor of geology in Kentucky. Could that be this instructor? But considering that kids need to bring their own food, pay to sleep, and pay extra for college credit, isn’t 65.00 a little expensive? I mean you could just come to Martinez and stand on the ADA accessible bridge. For free.
Your choice.
