Best week for ‘mammaling’
First kid of 2025 was on May 19th
My last post on May 10th made the case for that being the best week of the year for birds—northbound migrants at least. But if you’re more of a mammal-watcher like me, most eventful period is a smidgen later, maybe third or fourth week in May. On most of our trails, that’s the likeliest season to see a bear at close quarters.
And up in Goatlandia the little fluffballs are appearing. Every spring I plan to assemble a video story of this entrancing process, moms first isolating in radical, predator-free terrain, then reconvening on the Kindercliffs as soon as kids are travel-ready.
But for a naturalist, May always comes with other commitments. At Discovery, we’re preparing for the annual Teacher Outings, timed to end of the school year. So, while JuneauNature’s mountain goat section has downloads and slideshows on almost all other parts of Jánwu’s year, there’s darned little on babytime.
2025 is no exception. This year our focus is on Woosh eelʼóox̱ʼu héen (Mendenhall River), so much on everyone’s mind since jökulhlaups began in earnest 2 summers ago. Over the course of 3 days, May 30 thru June 1st, we’ll walk the river from Visitor Center to the delta at low tide.
So my tip-of-the hat to mother goats will be brief. Two minutes of recent video, up in the crazy-steep nursery where ‘safety’ has a different definition.
