www.MontanaNaturalist.org
What’s Happening Outside
Survival
in these recent below zero temperatures is challenging for over-wintering
animals of all sorts! Small mammals tunnel under snow in the subnivean zone.
The spruce has closely spaced braches that keeps snow away from its base,
creating a source of shelter for owls, snowshoe hare and grouse. Watch for
elk herds moving down from their summer feeding grounds to their wintering
grounds at lower elevations where food is easier to find.
The Montana Natural History Center is your Base
Camp for Discovery
Note Winter Hours: Tuesday – Friday
from noon–5
pm and Saturdays noon-4 pm. Bring your family to enjoy fun activities
and natural history exploration each Saturday, and admission for MNHC
Members is always free.
Note: MNHC will be closed
December 23 and 26.
LECTURE TONIGHT! November 30 - There's a
Bat in My Briefcase: Story from the Field
“Why You Should Never Wear Red Capes,
Especially During a Full Moon:
Wolf Recovery in the Northern Rocky
Mountains,” with Ed Bangs.
7 pm, MNHC, 120 Hickory Street
Small donation requested.
The Montana Natural History Center presents “There’s a Bat in My
Briefcase: Stories from the Field;” an entertaining lecture series focusing
on the adventures and misadventures of people who work in nature. This series
looks at the miracles and miscalculations that scientists, researchers, wildlife
filmmakers, authors, and artists encounter while working in the field.
Perhaps no other animal in the world elicits as much mythology, symbolism, and
human emotion as wolves. While wolves don't make everyone's lives better-
they always make them more interesting. During this lecture, Ed Bangs will give
an overview of wolf restoration and all the human drama involved in the past
2 decades. Ed Bangs is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Gray Wolf Recovery
Coordinator for the northwestern U.S.
Saturday Kids Activities
Join us each Saturday at 2
pm for exciting children’s programs
at MNHC. Free with admission! Great for children ages 5 and up; must
be accompanied by an adult. Be prepared to go outside in any weather.
Programs run about an hour and a half.
- December 2 - Web of Life (Must
be in at least 3rd grade)
Learn about how all things are connected in nature with a fun activity and then read a short story about the river ecosystem. Make up your own animal and figure out how it fits into an ecosystem. - December 9 – Special
Kids Activities with Donna Love (Families Welcome!)
11 am - 3 pm, Learn about the amazing osprey, dress up like a loon, and meet children’s book author Donna Love for some fun wildlife activities. - December 16, 30 - TBA
December 4 – Visiting Naturalist in the
Schools Volunteer Training
4 pm, MNHC 120 Hickory Street
Interested in volunteering to work with 4th and 5th grade classrooms
in Missoula? Join us for our Visiting Naturalist in the Schools training
for December classroom visits! This month’s theme is Have to Have
a Habitat. learn more>>
December
9 - 4th Annual Wild Gift Bazaar
10 am - 4 pm, MNHC 120 Hickory Street
Find that
perfect gift for the person who has everything! Made by local artisans,
these unique hand-crafted, nature-oriented gifts are one-of-a-kind presents
for everyone on your list.
Bring the family to enjoy Donna Love's special
osprey and loon activities from 11 am - 3 pm and play games from World
Games of Montana in our MNHC Market. Special
Members Sneak Preview and Volunteer Recognition evening December 8,
call 327-0405 for details!
Sale! Play a Day gift certificate
packages - great gifts for Missoulian families.
Becoming a Naturalist Class
at the University of Montana
Accepting Registrations now - Space is Limited!
Our
landscape is a manuscript written in trees, flowers and tracks. Learn how
to read its story with a course on the basic skills and tools of a naturalist.
Beginning January 23, class will meet Tuesdays from
5 - 7 pm, and includes
two Saturday field trips in April (dates TBA). We’re pleased
to have Paul Belanger teaching this course again. The class is $295,
including a $50 non-refundable deposit. You must
register with MNHC with the non-refundable deposit - no exceptions, UM
credit is available through Continuing Education. OPI credit also
available.
Call 327-0405 and learn
more>>
Community Watershed Education Class
at the University of Montana
Accepting Registrations now!
Gain
experience teaching environmental education while you learn about
our Clark Fork Watershed. In
this class, you will connect with people and organizations
doing environmental education in the
Call 327-0405 and learn
more>>
End of the Year Appeal! Join MNHC
and give the gift of education. Help celebrate 15 years of MNHC discoveries! New
Business Rates! learn
more>>
MNHC is an independent non-profit
organization celebrating its 15th Anniversary.
Become a member and support MNHC’s mission of promoting and cultivating
the appreciation, understanding and stewardship of nature through education.
Members receive discounts on programs, special invitations, free admission
to the MNHC Discovery Center, and the knowledge that they are supporting natural
history education in local schools.
MNHC is a proud member of Montana
Shares.
Work Study Receptionist Position available. MNHC
seeks an outgoing and positive student who MUST BE ELIGIBLE FOR WORK STUDY
in Spring of 2007 to help MNHC with Receptionist duties; including but not
limited to answering phones, greeting visitors, taking admission, and conducting
sales in our MNHC Market.
Call 327-0405 for details.
Feel free to forward this to friends who might enjoy learning more
about
the Montana Natural History Center.
120 Hickory Street, Missoula, Montana
59801. 406-327-0405. www.MontanaNaturalist.org.