Last week at the Broad Stage, some of us had the opportunity to learn from Steve Winter, a 20 year veteran of National Geographic, about Big Cats, their habitats and how to help protect them. With his videos and photos, he enthralled us with stories of how he photographed and wrote the first Jaguar story to make it in National Geographic;  his coldest adventures capturing the image of Snow leopards in the Himalayas; evading charging Rhinoceroses while shooting tigers, and his most recent photo stake-out to collect  images of LA’s Puma, P-22 whilst roaming near the Hollywood sign in Griffith park.

Steve Winters also lit a fire about the possible LAND BRIDGE that Los Angeles is considering, that would allow wild animals, like our resident Mountain Lion P-22 to go back and forth from Griffith Park to Santa Monica Mountain Range.  One location proposed is less than a mile from where our homeschool co-op meets up weekly.

To see some of these African and Asiatic cats in person, about a dozen MudPies and Butterflies Families have visited CatHaven just outside Sequoia national Park during on our annual Family Campouts.  Here we met Clouded Leopards, Jaguars, Jaguarundis, Cervils, Caracals, Tigers, Lions, Leopard cubs, a Cheetah and a Snow Leopard that licked the founder’s bald spot (through a fence, but still!)  These creatures are ambassadors for all North American humans to better understand the need to protect not only Big Cats of Asia and Africa, but why protecting their habitats and the surrounding villagers is also crucial.  Take the time with us, or with your families, to experience the majesty of these animals and your role in ensuring your descendants will also have them in their world.

Inspired by Steve Winter’s stake-out in Griffith Park, my daughters picked Mountain Lions to investigate and study at a deeper level.  Ula drew their favorite prey, the Mule Deer.  Esme drew the camouflaged cub, and to highlight what we learned about the “crepuscular” hunter’s eyes, I drew the face of a Mother Mountain lion.  (More cones than rods, pupils dilate 3 times wider than humans, etc).

It’s that time of year to escape the heat of SoCal and head North to the Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Park.  And what a wonderful forecast for our 5th year in a row – Highs in mid 70′s Lows in low 50′s.   With over 600 square miles of protected nature,  6 visitor centers, 3 museums and dozens of ranger talks, this Campout is fabulous for homeschoolers.  Even better is the bonding time that occurs amongst families tenting, feasting, playing, and learning alongside each other.  Above 6,000 feet in elevation - No Poison Oak!

And with the Kaweah river in our campsites backdoor, we get to fall to sleep to the sound of cool water rushing by all night and day.  Scrambling upon rocks, climbing trees, hiking to waterfalls, potlucks, a humdinger Talent Show, and campfires with storytelling and music and song will top it off.
And how fortunate we are to have families proving workshops and supplies for basketweaving, bracelet making, dreamcatchers, and safety knife skills with whittling.

This National park has so much to offer, most importantly the Giant Sentinels who inhabit this park – the Sequoias. This park is home to the LARGEST Tree in the World, named the General Sherman in 1879.  The Park itself wasn’t established until  September 25, 1890, with the help of John Muir, one of our country’s greatest naturalists and activist.  Who will give us the honor of visiting us at our campsite Saturday morning and explaining his life from childhood in Scotland to creating the legacy of America’s National Parks.

And for those who want to see a Cave or two, Crystal Caves and Boyden caves are wonderful choices.

How do you raise a Conservationist?  You first spend time outdoors.  You listen to what you can hear.  You watch what life is around you: ants and pillbugs; birds trilling calls and cawing warnings; patterns in clouds in the morning, afternoon and evening; and more.  Spending time in Nature creates awareness and compassion for the world about us.  Fortunately for my family, there is alot of nature available in our area.

Even though we don’t live IN Topanga, many of our friends do and some of our happiest moments in California have taken place in and about Topanga canyon.  This is why over the past 5 years, we have been involved in many events to help keep Topanga’s Web-of-Life intact. On Topanga Earthdays we’ve helped clean out the watershed of debris and invasive plants; we have taken many conservation “walk-abouts” with Tracker Rob, and then with the Tree people we have taken out invasive plants and planted indigenous species.  As members of the Topanga Wildlife Youth Group, my children were part of a sacred red-tailed hawk release as well as helped biologists record, research and remove invasive crayfish from the Topanga creek.  Find out a way that you can get involved to help protect your environments and the your personal web-of-life.  Your family will have a sense of pride and an added connection to the world outdoors.  This is one of the best ways to prevent cynicism and complacency from taking hold of a human being.  You need not look further than the faces in these photos to find proof.

We can’t recommend this experience enough.  Everyone in our group, age 1 year to 45 was engaged.  Walking about the enclosures on such a lovely day, felt as if we were on National Geographic, observing beguiling primates swing and fly about in play as well as walk erect on the ground (looking more like humans than chimpanzees and great apes).  And at the end of our tour, we experienced a crazy campus-wide concert of howling and crooning by most of the Gibbons, that I doubt any of us will ever forget.  If you act quick enough, you can get tickets or private tours from Groupon at half price that will not expire until spring.  Even though the center is open to the public on the weekends, it was well worth it to  have the entire complex to yourself by purchasing the midweek private tour Groupon .

Look at the Baby!

In addition to serving as a sanctuary since 1976 (when Gibbon specialist, Alan Mootnick founded it), the GCC presently works with governments and conservationists in Southeast Asia to aid in restoring the Gibbon populations.  Extra care is taken to allow the Gibbon’s to exist as close to their natural state as possible in order to effectively reintroduce their offspring to their natural habitats.  This means there is no man-handling beyond medical-required attention.  The true habits and characteristics of the Gibbons are honored.  For example, the enclosures do not have artificial grass, faux rocks or fake foliage (which appeals to humans).   Instead they are structurally sound and interlaced with tree trunks, ropes and swings to best allow the Gibbons to fly, jump, spin and yank as hard as they would on trees and vines in the jungles and canopies of their indigenous habitats.  And boy are their acrobatics a delight to behold.

In the wild, Gibbons do not travel in large numbers.  A pair of parents rearing their children is the traditional “band” of Gibbons.  Their young are nursed from 2- 3 years and live with their parents in a family unit similarly to us.  The youngest baby at GCC is seen in the lap of the orange Gibbon pictured above.  He clung adorably to his mother as we watched her swing from her perch to pick up some greenbeans and place one each in her feet and free hand, before using the other hand to swing and maneuver herself back to her original perch to snack upon her green goodies.  Around 18 years of age, the offspring are pushed out of the family unit to ideally start their own family and stake out their own territory.  At GCC, each enclosure that houses a nuclear family is covered with tarps, not only to offer shade in the hot seasons, but to create visual camouflage allowing each Gibbon families a sense of separation like from foliage and canopies in the wild.

The life expectancy of a Gibbon is between 30 and 40 years, and yet the oldest Gibbon is now 40 and still alert and active.  Once the youngest at the center, he is now the oldest. (Pictured sitting on the log while a younger descendent plays flies about).   Unlike Zoos, that typically feed their animals twice a day, Gibbons at the center are fed TEN times a day, similar to their feeding and grazing styles in the wild.  Their varied diet is continuously modified by the workers and volunteers, once receiving two bananas a day it has been cut down to one, where as yams have been increased and they are considering increasing their protein in the form of nuts.  They spend over 2 thousand dollars a month on feeding these spectacular animals.

At the center, they have experimented with forms of entertainment and enrichment in the enclosures like swings, hammocks, and toys as well as some lovely drums on the grounds that our kids played upon.  Interestingly enough, as I looked around to see the reaction, the drumming didn’t do a thing for the Gibbons, but made us visitors dance a bit.

Each volunteer and employee at the center are keen on observing habits, health and interests of these fascinating creatures in order to improve the life of Gibbons at GCC, as well as in sharing with the international consortium of sanctuaries, zoos and conservation areas to ensure that the 17 species of Gibbons have the best possible outcomes.  Get your Groupon now, or just make a donation to the Gibbon Conservation Center that works so hard to protect these animals, build awareness around the globe and is ensuring these species will NOT go extinct.  If you have never purchased a Groupon before, you can use this link and give me a referral bonus.