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Welcome! Our facility is open on weekdays from 9am to 4pm and on weekends from 10am to 2pm.

Wearing a face mask indoors is optional. Because we are a childcare facility and follow public health protocols, we have limited access to some public offerings and areas of our facility. We appreciate your patience as we work to find a healthy balance of access and safety for our community.

As always, our grounds and trails featuring self-guided tours are free and open daily from dawn until dusk.

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EIGHTY HOURS OUTSIDE SUMMER CHALLENGE

Name: EIGHTY HOURS OUTSIDE SUMMER CHALLENGE
Start: 2021-06-25T08:00:00-05:00
End: 2021-09-22T17:00:00-05:00

June 25, 2021 @ 8:00 am - September 22, 2021 @ 5:00 pm

This summer, challenge yourself, your friends and your family to 80 hours outside!

Spending time outside is fun and exciting, especially in summer, but how can you tell if you are really spending enough time engaged in the great outdoors?

From now until September 22nd, track the time you spend outdoors with our Eighty Hours Outside Summer Challenge Tracker. Set a goal of spending eighty hours outside and see if you can get them all in before the end of summer!

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Details

Start:: June 25, 2021 @ 8:00 am
End:: September 22, 2021 @ 5:00 pm

Organizer

: Aldo Leopold Nature Center

Aldo Leopold Nature Center

20 hours ago

Hibernation in mammals!Some mammals have adapted to survive the cold winter months that are associated with food shortages by entering a state of greatly reduced metabolic activity called hibernation. During true hibernation, animals slow down their breathing and heart rates, while lowering their body temperatures drastically, to just above the outside temperature. A common misconception of hibernation is that animals will sleep all winter, without ever waking up. This is not true as the physiological characteristics of hibernation are not maintained throughout the entire winter and animals need to periodically wake up to meet essential body functions. They change position, urinate, defecate, and some species eat from stored food reserves, while others survive solely on their accumulated body fat. During true hibernation, the animal sleeps so deeply that it’s nearly impossible to wake them up. Waking up takes a lot of energy and they wake up very slowly after going through a lethargic state. Groundhogs, ground squirrels, and bats are animals that are considered true hibernators.In contrast, bears are considered super hibernators. Not only can they wake up quickly to react to danger, but their big size also allows them to conserve body heat better than small species. When bears are hibernating in their dens, they decrease their breathing and heart rate but their body temperatures do not decrease as drastically as true hibernators. Another reason bears are considered super hibernators is because they recycle their metabolic waste. During hibernation, bears do not need to eat, drink, defecate, or urinate at all! A plug made up of feces, hair, and dead intestinal cells forms in their anus during hibernation. They also have the ability to maintain their muscle and bone mass despite months of inactivity!What signs of fall do you see? Visit us for a hike or take a walk around your neighborhood looking for cyclical events influenced by seasonal changes. Photo: Stephanie Briand, Aldo Leopold Nature Center#PhenologyUpdate #HibernationMammals #WIEnviroEd #NatureIsEverywhere #NatureIsForEveryone #EveryBodyOutside ...

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