Category: Kodiak Survivors


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There are days when Munsey and Boda are chillaxing in the winter sun, dreaming of the warmer spring and summer months that will bring the smell and tastes of fresh buds on the trees and little animals running around their habitat area and the refreshing water in their pool and their pond.

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The winter in central Wisconsin provides Munsey and Boda a pond full of ice to excavate and Munsey case, it’s a supply of objects to toss into the air!

aDSC_0457   Boda is more interested in releasing his downed tree trunk, so he can move it around and show off his brute strength.

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Munsey and Boda truly enjoy each other’s company and they are never separated from each other for more than 15 minutes. Of course, they are bears and they love to wrestle with each other.  On Sunday, February 23rd, I documented the boys wrestling for about 45 minutes out of the 90 minutes I was charting their activities in the Bear Woods Habitat Exhibit.

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After about 10 minutes of wrestling Munsey and Boda take a short time out to catch their breath before starting the next wrestling match.  They aren’t growling or creating any loud vocal sounds directed at each other, usually just a lot of heavy breathing from the extensive physical activity.

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Then it’s time to rest, roll and slide around in the snow and dig up more ice chunks to break apart or toss into the air.  At this time Munsey is in the past 900 lbs. and Boda is over 1,000lbs.

 

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Munsey and Boda spent their 5th Bear-thday enjoying meat/blood frozen ice cakes, unwrapping their cardboard birthday boxes filled with fresh fish and other bear-lightful yummy foods hidden in construction themed decorations placed all around the JP Adler Kodiak Bear Habitat Exhibit on Saturday, Feb 22nd, 2020.

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There were over 150 zoo guests that attended the bear-thday celebration and the Wildwood Zoo Staff and volunteers worked for many hours preparing for the event and setting up the decorations and interactive educational activity center.  Zoo guests brought Munsey and Boda many wonderful Birthday treats that the boys could enjoy over the next few weeks and throughout the years.

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The hot wire that’s been protecting the observation window located in the JP Adler Kodiak Bear Exhibit area have been removed!  About two months ago the hot wire was placed around all the observation windows to prevent Munsey and Boda from licking and eating the sealant placed around the new observation  windows.   Now that a new protective coating has been applied to the original  sealant the cubs are free to interact once again with all Wildwood Zoo guests.

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I often wonder what is going through the minds of both the child and the Kodiak cub while they’re  sharing a hug.  This is Munsey sharing a hug with a young Zoo guest early Monday morning around 8:30 am.

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The cubs love to interact with the zoo staff while they’re cleaning the glass of the observations windows.

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Casandra ( pictured above ) informed me that a few weeks ago Munsey and Boda had found a raccoon in the Bear Woods.  Needless to say, the raccoon turn out to be an additional snack for the cubs that day.

Munsey  and Boda now weigh 400 to 423 pounds. The cubs are now 20 months old and Munsey  weighs in at 400 pounds, while Boda’s weight is 423 pounds. These photographs were taken on Monday October 2nd.

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If you would like to purchase a photographic Kodiak Bear Book , greeting cards, writing journals, photographic prints, coasters or a deck of playing cards please contact me.  The Wildwood Zoo Store sells my bear books and greeting cards.  So stop in at the Zoo store (which is open on weekends) or contact me.  A portion of the sales is donated to the Zoological Society!

 

It’s always hard to say goodbye to the interns at Wildwood Zoo!  Thank you Amy for doing such a great job during your stay at Wildwood Zoo.  Thank you for sharing information on Munsey and Boda! I always appreciated hearing new updates on the cubs!  Best of luck to you in the future and I hope we see each other again soon!

While visiting Munsey and Boda this past Thursday, I happened to cross paths with the staff from the Marshfield Community Television.  The staff had just finished filming an interview with Steve Burns about Munsey and Boda. So, here’s the link to the interview covering Munsey and Boda.

I also had an opportunity to join a scheduled tour of the behind the scenes care and facilities of Munsey and Boda.  I highly recommend that any visiting groups, families, and individuals schedule a behind the scenes tour of the facilities.  The tour is very interesting and you get to experience how the cubs use the scale so the staff can document their weight, how the cubs are fed, and so much more.  The Wildwood Zoo staff are very knowledgeable and friendly!  Thank you  to Cassandra and Amy (Wildwood Zoo Staff)  for allowing me to take photographs of you during the private tour.

I didn’t include all wonderful behind the scenes photographs that I had taken because I don’t want to spoil the experience for those guests that have the opportunity to go on the tour.  To schedule a tour, go to the following link.  http://ci.marshfield.wi.us/visitors/wildwood_zoo/tour_information.php

 

This is a slide video depicting the growth and development of Munsey and Boda from October 2015 to July 2016.

Here’s a new video clip on Munsey and Boda!  You can find more links to video clips and news articles written about the Munsey and Boda in former posts dedicated to Munsey and Boda.

I happened to be visiting Munsey and Boda during during some hot and humid days.  The early morning hours did’t seem to have as great of an impact on the cubs as much as the hot and humid evenings.  Last night the cubs seemed to be struggling with the heat and humidity from the long hot day.  Boda was digging up sand in the hopes of finding some cool damp sand to rest into, while Munsey  found a cool spot to rest located closer to the waterfalls up against the rock formations.

Earlier in the day I stopped to check on the cubs and found them swimming in the Bear Woods pond and the swimming pool that’s located in the JP Adler Kodiak Bear Habitat Area.

The cubs love discovering new things and one of items that cubs love playing with is the landscaping material that must line the pond in the BEAR WOODS.

Munsey and Boda love to play with new and interesting toys and that includes the empty beer keg that’s floating in their pond.

On August 10th around noon,was the first time I observed Munsey and Boda swimming across their pond that’s located in the JP Adler Kodiak Bear Habitat Area.  This pool is 13 feet deep in the center and so the cubs would normally only  play and splash along the outside area’s but never had I seen them swim across the deepest area of the pool.

The cubs are now 18 months old and weigh about 380 to 390 pounds each.