Conference

On Saturday I went to a conference at St. John's University in Collegeville - the "Living in the Avon Hills" conference.  I have gone to it before.  It's always a good time.  This year's keynote speaker was the naturalist, photographer, speaker and author Stan Tekiela.  I've heard him speak before.  With his photo slide show of Yellowstone wolves behind him he spoke about wolves.  The topic of wolves tends to grab people pretty hard and he stayed away from the hunting issue until the question and answer section.  He said, and I hadn't heard of this before, that hunting wolves can lead to more wolf/people interaction.  When a hunter shoots a wolf the hunter doesn't know the status of that wolf in the pack.  Is it an aunt, an uncle, a younger sibling or the alpha female?  The disappearance of one pack member can disrupt the entire social structure.  The pack may disintegrate and the wolves strike out on their own looking to form a new pack and possible leading them into interaction with people.   Although he is a hunter himself, Stan is against hunting apex predators.  After the keynote speaker I took a class on the stickwork buildings - the temporary art work of five whimsical stick houses on the road coming into campus.  It was interesting to hear how many people helped collect the willow sticks and twine them into houses during the three week construction period.  The structure is designed to last two years.  As the willow wood dries out and shrinks the house will fall apart.  Since they don't want anyone injured the plan is to burn the stickwork buildings the night before the 2014 homecoming game.  I can imagine that big of a fire will slow down the traffic on Highway 94 that night.  We each got bag lunches featuring the awesome St. John's bread and St. John's cookies.  My next class was calling "Knowing My Place" and was taught by an English professor.  She is focusing on how place influences us and our perceptions.  She read an essay she wrote when she visit the spirit cedar tree in Grand Portage.  I was just at Grand Portage last summer and I didn't even think to go and see this awesome tree.  Now I will have to go back.  My next class was on flying squirrels which are probably in my yard but I've never seen one.  Our speaker, a biology professor invited us to come along as she traps and tags the squirrels next summer.  My last class was on flight.  This biology professor focused mainly on birds and insects and the evolution of flight.  The ability to fly has advantages and disadvantages.  Imagine not being able to manipulate food or objects because your fingers are now covered with wings.  Since there are 3 times as many birds in Minnesota as mammals, flying seems to have a biological advantage here.  The professor talked about the connection between mammals and the ability to fly.  He said in New Zealand, where there were no mammals other than bats, several birds evolved to loose the ability to fly.  A species of bat quit flying, a duck quit flying, and several other birds as well.  On one island a lighthouse keeper noticed a flightless wren.  He sent a specimen away to be studied.  In the six months it took for his specimen to be mailed away and the excited scientists travel to this remote island, the light house keeper's cat had killed each and every wren on the island.  I had a great day at the conference.  Sitting all day is difficult but the Hogwart's feel of the building we are in makes up for it.