Dear Wood Folk, Makwa the black bear wasn’t all running and treeing. Insects and songbirds didn’t phase him one bit. I’ve planted swaths of butterfly and bee attracting plants and at least twice noticed the little bear intently watching a butterfly. Thankfully, I got it on camera once: Imagine being our little friend Makwa… meeting […]
Category Archives: The Wood Folk Diaries
The Wood Folk Diaries: Volume 1, Chapter 3: Little Bear Meets Fox
Dear Wood Folk, Watching Makwa meet the world has involved countless escape scenes. Most bear sightings outside of the dump are bear backends, feet midair, here one second and gone the next. They are fast runners reaching speeds of 30mph. They can climb a tree in a blink of an eye. Treed they are barely […]
The Wood Folk Diaries: Volume 1, Chapter 2: Makwa The Black Bear
Due to the high volume of images, videos, and information, our wild friend Makwa (that’s Anishinaabemowin for “bear”) and his adventures will be covered over multiple chapters. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as we did. Dear Wood Folk, It was a summer evening in 2018, July the 22nd at around 10 PM […]
The Wood Folk Diaries: Volume 1, Chapter 1: Gerry The Ruffed Grouse
Dear Wood Folk, I’m disappointed in myself because I didn’t call her Henriette or him Henry, but I promise if another ruffed grouse (Ojibwe bine, lat. bonasa umbellus) cozies up to me that is exactly what I will name our new friend. I’m also disappointed with how often I’ve called these birds “ruffled”. Ruffed, Rachel, […]
The Wood Folk Diaries: An Introduction
Welcome to our About Us and introduction to The Wood Folk Diaries series, which will become Rachel’s field journal. The Ways of the Wood Folk was written by naturalist William J. Long, published in 1899, with these quaint illustrations by Charles Copeland. This now public domain work was scanned by The Biodiversity Heritage Library and posted on […]