The Bear Necessities

Overnight visitors in the High Peaks region of the Adirondack Park are required to carry a bear canister with all of their smell-ibles, and for a good reason—bears are smart.  The traditional “bear bags” used elsewhere in the US were of little use against bears who learned fairly quickly that gnawing through a rope brought a bag full of goodies plummeting to the ground.  High numbers of visitors in the park (particularly in the High Peaks) necessitated the transition to bear canisters in an effort to decrease human-bear interactions.  Dehumanized bears lose their fear of humans, becoming dangerous not only to unwary hikers but also to themselves—a fed bear is a dead bear.

At first, this transition to canisters worked: human-bear encounters dropped from 374 in 2005 to 61 after enforcement of the rule.  The canisters protected hikers’ lunches while the bears walked away hungry.  One bear, however, would not be defeated and gained considerable publicity for her ability to break through the BearVault and other “bear-proof” canisters.  Weighing in at only 125lbs, this female, middle-aged black bear managed to gracefully open bear canisters that confounded not only grizzly bears out west but also some less bright campers.  She is named after two yellow tags on either of her ears, used by park rangers to keep tabs on her.  Her name: Yellow-Yellow.

Thanks to her ability to break into their bear canisters, BearVault twice redesigned their product to withstand Yellow-Yellow’s tampering and specifically bring prototypes to the park filled with her favorite treats to test them—to no avail.  Unfortunately, a couple of years ago, she was shot and killed by a hunter, but her legacy lives on as unfortunate hikers who lose their lunches still curse her name.  There is also evidence that Yellow-Yellow shared her ingenuity with some eager followers. 

While these exploits make for excellent folk-lore, there is significant danger in wildlife losing their fear of humanity.  Without reinforcing the notion that we are dangerous in encounters with animals, they will become bold and attack humans to achieve their ends, resulting in the shooting of the animal to ensure it doesn’t harm any park visitors.  So let us praise the ingenuity of the Adirondack bears who single-handedly (or single paw-edly!) shaped the design of bear canisters while understanding that humans and bears are not supposed to get along and that we should scare them away when we catch them sniffing around our food.

Also, here is the link to a hilarious video of Yellow-Yellow stealing a backpack:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMPSjzKzC-c

Source: Foderaro, Lisa W., 2009.  "Bear-Proof Can Is Pop-Top Picnic for a Crafty Thief."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/nyregion/25bear.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

The Adirondack Chair

As I was walking back to my dorm from the field house after track practice today, I noticed a wooden object protruding out of the snow (see picture below).  Upon closer inspection, I remembered that, only a few months back, before the snow, there were Adirondack chairs sprawled across our various campus lawns.  As, now more than ever, I am yearning for a temperate spring day to sit outside on an Adirondack chair and do my homework, I felt so inclined to share some thoughts on Adirondack chair.

Photo by Benjamin K. Cooper '18

I recently read a post on our blog from October by Ally Kontra, who detailed her opinions on what qualifies an Adirondack chair as authentic.  Essentially, after working through her thoughts on the authenticity of the special chairs, she concludes that the most authentic are those handmade in the Adirondacks.

While I was reading her post, I became interested to learn about the structure and history of these famed chairs.  As evidenced by the name, the Adirondack chair was created in Westport, New York.  Westport lies on the edge of the Adirondacks, on the eastern side of Lake Champlain.  However, within the town of Westport, there is controversy as to who actually designed the Adirondack chair.  Although Harry Bunnell patented the chair, according to a New York Times article, it was Thomas Lee’s original design (Greenbaum, 2011).

Harry Bunnell’s patent describes the chair in a technical, though, for a patent, uncharacteristically opinionated manner.  Bunnell begins the patent by exclaiming, “Be it known that I, Harry C. Bunnell… residing at Westport… have invented a new and useful improvement in chairs” (Bunnell: US794777A).  In incredible detail, as is typically the case for a patent of an invention, the building and structure of the chair is described.  Bunnell concludes with stating, “[f]rom the above description it is thought that the advantages of this construction will be obvious.”

Having grown up sitting on the Adirondack chairs in my back yard, I must admit, the advantages are “obvious.” There is something intrinsically special about these chairs. The design is aesthetically unique, and unusually comfortable for a stiff, wooden chair.

I look forward to spending the warmer spring days to come, lounging on the campus’ Adirondack chairs, while appreciating their history and comfort.

 Works Cited:

1. Bunnell, Harry C. Chair. Patent US794777A. 18 July 1904. Print.
2. Greenbaum, Hilary. "Who Made That Adirondack Chair?" Web log post. The 6th Floor. The New York Times, 28 June 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2015. <http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/who-made-that-adirondack-chair/?_r=0>.
3. Kontra, Ally. "What Does It Mean to Be Authentic?" Web log post. ADK Forever Wild. Hamilton College, 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2015. <http://adkforeverwild.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-does-it-mean-to-be-authentic.html>.

Honey Bees

Our discussion of invasive species in the Adirondacks left me thinking about the role we play in regulating species that are not “native” to an area. As we discussed, there are numerous nonnative species that have threatened the livelihood of native species in the Adirondacks. This comes mainly from the fact that these nonnative species do not have natural predators that many native species do have in the area. There is nothing to restrict their growth; leading them to hoard all the resources available to them. However, there is a primary difference between these nonnative species, and those that exist in new ecosystems without reeking havoc on the -environment. Invasive species out-compete native species and seize niches, while other nonnative species can coexist with native species and bring some benefits in some cases.

I’m particularly interested in the fine line between the benefits and drawbacks of native and nonnative species because I have European honey bee hives at my home in Pennsylvania. I began beekeeping when I was 10, and as I learned more about the hobby in general, I also learned about the immense importance of honey bees in the United States. Although honey bees are not native in North America, they have become critical to our agriculture and ecosystems. This seems like an illogical statement; if our ecosystems have survived without honey bees, why should they need them now? This situation boils down to the fact that our society has modified the land and ecosystems to a point where native pollinators could never keep up with the amount of pollination required to sustain our crops and various pollinator dependent plants. Our large monoculture farms allow for no woody areas suited to native bees; instead, our only option is to pollinate our crops using honey bees. Additionally, many of our nations crops, such as apples, are not native to the North America, so can only be pollinated by honey bees.

            This example pertains to my own experience with nonnative species, but I believe it’s a topic that is extremely relevant to the Adirondacks, especially as humans continue to modify the land. Fragmentation and climate change could lead to shifts in the ecosystem of the Adirondacks, leading these habitats to experience both the positive and negative impacts of nonnative species. As these changes occur, I’m curious as to what humans with think about our role in preserving prior ecosystems. Will there reach a point where we let nature take its course even though we initiated the modification, or will we do everything in our power to reverse what we started? Will we tolerate and even promote the introduction of certain nonnative species (such as honey bees) or will we keep the environment as it was?

The Guide Boat

Many areas that are famous for their waterways are equally famous for the vehicles that transport people around them. These vessels often can become as much a part of the rivers scenery as reeds fish and birds. The Mississippi River has its big wheel steamboats, Boston has swan boats, and Long Island has Commuter boats. The same is true with the Adirondacks. To understand how the Adirondack guide boat was created, we have to understand the men who lent their name to this boat. Adirondack Guides are famous still as frontiers men. They are a rare group of people who you would really want beside you if you were ever lost in the wilderness. They are as tough as the terrain they live in, and know the park well.

Mitchell Sabattis likely created the guide boat around 1849. Sabattis needed a boat that boat that was light enough to carry over long portages, while still seaworthy enough to carry two people and all the gear they might need for a trip. The boat itself looks like a variant of a canoe, due to its double end style. The hull was made out of either spruce or tamarack, and then cedar or pine would be used as planks in the bottom of the boat. Guide boats are still made today, although the materials have changed slightly. The Adirondack Guide Boat Company, founded by Steve Kaulback has been making modern guide boats for the past 25 years.They make the boats out of cedar instead of spruce. They also construct the same familiar frame out of Kevlar. Kevlar allows the boats to be even lighter and stronger than the wooden ones, although regular people, not guides, now use many of the boats for recreation. The Kevlar Boat Company even makes a sail boat variant for those who wish their boat to be wind powered instead of man powered. The guide boat will likely stay a staple of the Adirondack scenery; do to its history beauty and presence on the modern day lakes and rivers of the park.

Sources:

Kaulback, Steve. "Kevlar Rowing Boats." Kevlar Rowing Boats. Adirondack Guideboats. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. <http://www.adirondack-guide-boat.com/category/kevlar-boats>.

Schneider, Paul. The Adirondacks: A History of America's First Wilderness. New York: H. Holt, 1997. 175-253. Print.