I found 2 small murals of interest in Ely, one of which depicts its current claim to fame, canoeing the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area. I especially like how the woman is in charge of the fire while the man does the cooking!
The second mural reflects Ely's mining history.
Ely is also home to the Bear Center. The admission fee was a bit pricey at $8.50 in my opinion. There are 3 live bears in an outside enclosure with the option of viewing from inside at eye level through glass or from an outside balcony. My two cents....if you're hoping to see "bears", forget it. These babies are as tame as you can get. They fed them right after we arrived and they were training new people to toss the food out to them while their hand was within munching distance of the bear's mouth. I mostly watched the non-bear wildlife because they acted more wild. The squirells, chipmunks and birds all scampered in and out of the feeding area scavenging treats when they thought the bears weren't looking. The bears acted like pets, which is fine if that's what you're into, but I like a little more wild in my animals. They had a lot of information on display that we perused, but the way it was displayed was like something you'd see at a junior high geography fair, not as professional as you would expect for the entry fee. I'm assuming most of the admission dollars are going toward their research projects. If you want to see the bears yourself, you can check them out for free here. Anybody know what the rodent pictured below is? It looked like a prairie dog but with a long flat tail.
Could it have been a muskrat?
ReplyDeleteNot a muskrat. It was a light gray, thought it was a squirrell until I saw the tail. When I watched it more closely it moved and looked like a prairie dog, but all the types of prairie dogs I found online had short tails.
DeleteI love towns with the murals. Thought about adding that to my travel "goals," but already have so many it's laughable! So we just enjoy murals when we happen upon them...if ever near Paducah, KY, don't miss the incredible murals they have on their floodwall!
ReplyDeleteWe have a friend who volunteered for a few weeks at the Bear Center in Ely. He enjoyed it, but since he lives and hikes in the Smokies, he very quickly realized that it didn't portray a true image of their ways.
Yes, somehow murals have snuck into my travel goals. I'm going to try to go after orchids next spring as a travel goal. There is a wolf place here in Ely as well...the weather is bad today so we might visit it against our better judgment!
DeleteGlad you're enjoying our "old neighborhood." We lived in Hibbing from 2005-2007 and enjoyed the wildness of the area. Keep an eye out; there were plenty of bears enjoying their natural habitat while we lived there. :)
ReplyDeleteDidn't see any bears, scat, or marked trees on our whole 10 day trip. Maybe they heard I was coming and hid? Still had a nice time, though!
DeleteThe bears at NABC are captive bears. Maybe you didn't read their history. They came to NABC (the 2 largest ) 5 years ago after being handraised by a family in Wisconsin-they are approximateley 15 and 16 years old. The younger bear came after also being handraised by an individual. If they hadn't been allowed sanctuary at NABC they would have been euthanized. The information you spoke about was setup to reach all levels of age, there are areas for very young ones to learn more and areas for adult material. The videos presented inform the visitor in a direct way without interpretation. I've been there and enjoyed the adult material and viewing the captive bears whose behavior is different from their wild counterparts.
ReplyDeleteTo each their own, I was just expressing my opinion that I found it to be expensive compared to other similar attractions and that I personally don't find watching captive "tame" animals exciting. I was happy to donate the money, once, but wouldn't go again. My opinion is just that, my opinion. As for the information displayed, it was informative, but again, not professionally displayed considering the high admission price. Glad the bears have a home, but my goal is just to help people make an informed decision about whether this type of attraction is something they want to include in their itinerary and spend their money on.
DeleteAnonymous dated August 31,2012 2:44PM The (2 largest) bears are 15 & 16 years old this is not an approximate. They would NEVER have been euthanized for future reference please state actual facts.
Deletethe animal in question is a Franklin ground squirrel.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I found some great information about the Franklin ground squirrel at http://www.chicagowilderness.org/CW_Archives/issues/winter2002/franklins.html
DeleteIt seems murals have caught on in many places as a visual means of accessing history and for creating a certain ambiance. Thanks for contributing to Monday Mural.
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