This past week, snow continued to be the order of the day. We had small snow events which added another few inches of the white stuff to our total accumulations. Seems we get a day or two of melt which is then followed by another burst of snow to replace what we lost. A few are beginning to have trouble seeing out their windows between the snow off roofs and the plowed snow banks. The winter sports enthusiasts definitely have nothing to complain about this year. Has been a great year for them! But, many of us (myself included!) are ready for a touch of spring.
A THANK YOU FROM THE CLAM LAKE FOREST RIDERS: “The Clam Lake Forest Riders would like to thank everyone for their support during this past snowmobile season. Our Meat Raffles have been very successful with the total profit for this past season amounting to $5,940.00. (Wow!) This money is used for maintenance, property taxes, insurance, heat and electricity at our groomer shed and any expense on our John Deere groomer. This year we will be paying supplemental monies to our groomer guys who worked endless hours on grooming and equipment maintenance. Our 50/50 cash raffle was held March 4th and the winners were: 1st place – Trudy Potts, 2nd place – Evie Frasch, 3rd place – Jerery Greenwaldt, 4th place – Julie Claymon.” Congrats to all winners!
SPEAKING OF – DONATION REMINDER: Remember you can now donate to the Clam Lake Forest Riders Snowmobile Club at either the Clam Lake Junction or the Chippewa Outpost. When making a purchase at either establishment you may be asked if you’d care to donate a dollar towards this hard working club. Of course, it’s not necessary to make a purchase to donate. You can simply say you’d like to donate and all the cashier has to do is hit the donate key and done! Our thanks got out to the Forest Riders for all they have done this past winter season to keep the trails looking good with all their hours spent grooming and clearing trails. Their hard work has paid off as is evidenced when one sees all the snowmobilers clustered all over Clam Lake frequenting the various businesses. Thanks to them for keeping our local tourist economy booming!
DO BEARS DO DRUGS? Since the recent release of the film “Cocaine Bear” which was based on the true story of a bear found dead in Georgia after ingesting a large amount of cocaine from a drug run gone bad, I wondered….do bears eat things that could get them high? The answer, according to a Ursinologist (bear scientist), is yes! – if they get a hold of it. Bears are opportunists when it comes to food and will eat just about anything. So, if someone is camping and has marijauna in their belongings a bear, attracted by the smell, may come and do some raiding. There has also been short films shot of bears ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms showing the end result. Instead of the drug fueled murderous rampage that the bear in “Cocaine Beat” goes on, this poor bear was gazing around as if to say, “have you ever really looked at your paw??” before tipping over to lie with all fours facing the sky. Looked like a nap was definitely in order. It has also been noted that deer and other Cervids (deer, elk, moose and caribou) have been known to go “tripping” after eating mushrooms or other “thought provoking” plants. And, as to why did the real “Cocaine Bear” eat soooooo much cocaine – 75 lbs! – although “only” four grams had gotten into it’s blood stream? Scientists say, that if this event had happened in the fall, when bears are trying to bulk up for their winter hibernation they turn into “lean, mean eating machines” and will gobble down vast amounts of anything deemed edible. Bears have also been known to partake of fermented berries that leave them intoxicated. So….if you see one of our wilderness friends spending some time gazing around the forest in deep contemplation you may want to keep your distance.
Until next week…..
Pictured is a bear rooting for “edibles”. (Photo courtesy of Dave Lorfeld)
