Saturday, November 6, 2010

Polar Bears Aer The Best Swimirs


Get excited everyone! Just in case you thought I was going to close this blog without giving you some REAL evidence that bears really do live on campus. Check out the photo below. That little white blob is a polar bear (please click on the photo for a better view). I bet you didn't know that during the winter, when the school closes the pool, it becomes the polar bear habitat. 

Photo Cred: Me

Sometimes we also find these sorts of bears lurking around the dorm... 


BEAR ATTACK.
Photo Cred: Me

Woah, hey. There's a bear on my head. Get down from there.
Photo Cred: Me

I'm signing off and leaving you with the tools and knowledge to seek out those bears on campus! And hopefully not just the teddy bears in your dorm rooms...



Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A-Hunting-We-Will-Go

I think it would be beneficial if perhaps I gave you guys some useful tips  that I use to track bears down around campus, as they tend to roam around and such.
First, I thought it would be nice to give you guys a little favorite recipe of mine: Berry Honey Granola. Perfect for a snack during the long bear stake-outs. Super tasty and substantial! 


Ingredients

  • 4 cups quick cooking oats
  • 1 cup chopped toasted almonds
  • 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup ground flax seeds
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 2/3 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup raisins (I like golden)
  • 1/2 cup chopped dried pineapple
  • 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries (I use crasins) 
  • 1/2 cup chopped dried papaya (I think dried papaya is gross, so I omit this one) 

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the oats, almonds, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, canola oil, and honey. Spread evenly over the prepared baking sheet, pressing down lightly with the back of a spoon.
  3. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool completely.
  4. In a large bowl, break the cooled granola into large chunks. Mix in the raisins, pineapple, sweetened dried cranberries, and papaya. Store in an airtight container and take with you when you're tracking down bears! (Careful though, they might want some too!) 


Here are some photos to help you in your bear tracking endeavors:



Highlighted is bear scat. Gross, but helpful if you want to know where bears have been and may return to.
Photo Credit: Yours Truly

Bears like to hang out in these dense secluded bushy areas.  Frequent these areas enough and you'll most likely see a furry friend.
Photo Credit: Your Truly



A picture of a bear paw print. Definitely useful if you want to follow a bear's movement patterns
Photo Credit: Yours Truly


Please don't shoot the bears when you're 'hunting' them. That's not what this is about. (CLICK)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Eats, Shoots and Leaves

Our days are busy. Super busy. Go to class, go to rehearsal/sports practice/whatever, go to meetings of various clubs, do homework, somehow fit in seeing friends and eating. There certainly isn't any time for relaxing, and you can forget about sleep. Wouldn't it be nice if there were somewhere to go that's made especially for you to get yourself centered again? Yeah, you could do some yoga or listen to some music BUT... there's a zen meditation garden located right in the chapel here on campus.


Taken by Deborah M. 

Good thing bamboo also grows here - adding to the zen decor. You know who loves bamboo? PANDAS. And before you Panda novices get all up in my case about Pandas "not being bears". They are... we think. Maybe.  In Stephen O'Brien's study of Panda, Racoon (Red Panda) , and Bear DNA, he concluded that Pandas split from the Ursidae family much later than the Red Panda. Therefore, they are more closely related to bears than to the Red Panda, as was previously thought. However, a recent blood protein study used albumin (a blood protein) which suggested that Pandas are related closer to raccoons. Basically, it's still way up in the air as to whether or not Pandas are really bears. But that's okay. If you frequent the meditation gardens, you might see them snacking on some bamboo anyway. So grab your green tea, your ramen noodles, and your other stereotyped asian items and make your way to the meditation gardens for some quality 'me-time' with the Pandas. 


A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.
'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
'Well, I'm a panda,' he says, at the door. 'Look it up.'
The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

The Annual Salmon 5k

Although Black Bears are the most common type of bear on campus, Brown bears also reside here. The annual mating ritual of Pacific Salmon, called spawning, draws brown bears out of their dwellings to feast on these tasty morsels.

What? You don't think there are raging rapids hidden within the quiet and serene Trinity campus? YOU'D BE WRONG. See:

Photo Credit: Yours Truly
Right below the Coates Esplanade and by Murchison lies a winding little river and waterfall. 


In just a few short weeks (mid october) this raging river will be filled with salmon swimming up-stream. If you want to see some hungry brown bears hunting down their dinner, park your tush right by the waterfall and catch some action:


Photo Credit: Yours Truly

Until then this little hideaway is perfect for doing late afternoon homework.

I hear if you sing this song it actually draws out the bears before the annual Salmon Run...



Thanks BLinkCrash for this wonderful video. (Embeded from YouTube)


Creative Commons License
Brown Bears Aer Huntrs by Elle is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Now You Know (Not Because It's Mike's Super Short Show) - An Intro

A note on the title
Yes, I misspelled the title. No, I wasn't drunk when I wrote it. It has been derived from a project I did in elementary school - complete with the spelling skills of a first grader.


Photo Credit: Elle (me)




So, I'm sure you've seen those cute little feral cats running around here. They flicker their little kitty tails and prance around the campus acting like they own the place (and my friend, Nathan)

Photo Credit: Yours Truly


 ...At least, that's what they want you to think. News to most people here at Trinity, is that those cats aren't the only "wildlife" residing within our cozy university. There happens to be a small population of bears here as well. No, not the teddy bear you boyfriend gave you for Valentines day that you cuddle every night in your dorm room. I'm talking about real bears. Big, bushy, and for the most part - unseen by students and faculty alike. When I was a freshman and I heard this "absurd" rumor of bears residing within the Trinity campus, I told my (unnamed) friend that she was cracked in the head. However, being the bear aficionado that I am... I did a little looking. What I found surprised me and I'll show you other budding bear seekers where you can hopefully sight one of these furry wonders for yourself.



Now, If your interest has been peaked- in the upcoming weeks, I'll be showing you some special locations around campus with which you can hopefully spot some different types of bears.


The black bear. The most common bear on the Trinity campus.
Spotted below the cliff by Thomas and South dormitories.

This work is dedicated to the Public Domain. For non-US use it is also placed under a Creative Commons CC0 designation.
This work is in the Public Domain.
Creative Commons License


Creative Commons License
Brown Bears Aer Huntrs by Elle is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.