Daily Journal

Friday, January 18, 2008

Picture this: 12 teachers piled in a snow coach, bundled into at least 4 layers of clothing each and eager to experience the natural beauty of Yellowstone. After our first 10-minute foray out of the snow coach, we realized we needed to add toe warmers to our boots. All our fancy outdoor gear could not compare to the cold weather adaptations possessed by the wildlife we encountered today:

• A lone coyote shoveling through the snow in search of a morning snack of frozen carcass. (We chose granola bars from our packs in the warm snow coach!)
• Bison, complete with icicles hanging from their horns and snow covering their backs. These animals are protected from the cold by having five hairs per follicle. We watched as they used their huge heads and humps to plow through the snow in search of grass.
• Two otters playing together while a coyote rested nearby. We watched as a coyote lounged in the snow while two otters splashed in and out of the frigid waters of Yellowstone Lake. Occasionally the otters would pop up right next to the coyote, who paid them no real attention. We learned that otters plunge into the snow to warm up. Their guard hair lies down when they swim and rolling in the snow fluffs it back up, creating a warm layer of air around their bodies.

All in all, the wonders we saw duirng our fist day cannot be fully described in a short journal entry. Did we mention that we also saw a bald eagle, waterfalls larger than most of us have ever seen and Dragon’s Mouth, a thermal feature at Mud Volcano?

Q & A for January 18