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Students learn about winter adaptations

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RONAN — Bitter cold, blowing snow and slippery ice pose winter obstacles for man and beast that call Mission Valley home, but people and animals alike have adapted over generations to make life survivable in the hardest part of the season.

“When you think about snow, remember that there are things going on under the snow that we can’t see,” Tribal Biologist Whisper Camel Means told students at K. William Harvey Elementary School last week as they looked at a diagram of people skiing on top of the snow, with small mammals and reptiles living secret lives underneath the cover. 

The presentation was one in a monthly series called “Wild About Reading” presented by tribal biologists and K. William Harvey. The activity is meant to improve literacy, cultural knowledge and interest in biology.

“Animals have adaptations that help them in the winter,” Camel Means explained to the children. Grizzly bears eat heavily  before winter so they can climb into dens and have young before resting in a state of sleep, but not complete hibernation, Camel Means said.

“They can still come out and eat food if they have to,” she said.

Beavers and squirrels cache food throughout the year that they can feed on during the winter months. Wolf fur might change color or thickness in different seasons, Camel Means explained as biologist Kari Eneas carried around two pelts as an example.

People native to Mission Valley also have ways of celebrating the cold months, Camel said. January is known as the “handshaking month” because people are supposed to extend warm wishes for the new year to their neighbors. The Salish have a jump dance in St. Ignatius and the Kootenai have a similar event in Elmo to begin anew.

“The idea is bring blessings to the new year,” Camel said of the traditions.

Biologist Stephanie Gillin spent some time focusing on another native aspect of wildlife: the native names of animals.

After stumbling over a couple of the words, Gillin explained that the Kootenai alphabet is not the same as the English alphabet and it can be difficult to learn as an adult.

“If you can learn it as a kid you should,” Gillin said.

Dean of Students Carey Swanberg said the biologists did a great job of tying the concepts of adaptation, biology, and culture together.

“It’s just a really great program they put on,” Swanberg said.

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