A hearty meow and a friendly roooaaarrr to you all! It’s Cosmo, the library cat.
Tired of being hot? Come visit Alaska, in Moab! Allow me to explain: while surveying my lovely library last week, I was startled to see that we’d been invaded by mammoth mammals of a slightly bulkier ilk than I. Bears! Huge, shaggy and wet, hanging out in a waterfall, snapping at leaping salmon.
At first sight I was a bit concerned for our safety but after a moment’s observation, I realized these bears were safely contained on a screen. My friends in the children’s room of Grand County Public Library have informed me it’s part of an exciting new theme celebrating bears and “Fat Bear Week!”
Late summer and fall is when bears are busy preparing for hibernation, which means fattening themselves up for that long, winter nap. In Alaska’s Katmai National Park, park rangers set up secret cameras to film the brown bears while fishing for salmon at Brooks Falls as part of a live-streamed show called “The Hungry Games.”
This culminates in “Fat Bear Week” in early October, where online voters from around the world determine the most rotund bear on the river. Fat Bear Week is designed to celebrate the resiliency and fishing skills of our ursine brethren and to educate the public about bears and their role in maintaining a balanced ecosystem.
The cameras offer a mesmerizing (and inspiring!) glimpse into their daily lives. The library’s children’s room will have fun, bear-themed activities and crafts throughout the month of September, including a bear-themed scavenger hunt, and — when the time comes — guidance adding your vote for the world’s portliest bear.
So stop by and watch the bears with me! Visit our very own salmon-filled “stream” in the children’s room. You can even bravely pose for a picture next to a family of bears or just relax and engage in some Alaskan-themed escapism as we watch bears sedately fishing on live bear cams posted around the library.
Hope to see you soon!
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