Great Family Entertainment on a Shoestring

Under the headline, Break Free: A completely shameless guide to entertaining the kids for nothing during spring vacation, Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter, John Campanelli, highlighted the unique appeal of Lake Erie Nature & Science Center in Monday's pdQ cover story. The article mapped out a week of spring break family fun, without the high cost of travel outside the region. His itinerary for Thursday included this high praise for our Center: "Stay west and head to the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village. Perhaps the best no-admission place to take a child in Northeast Ohio, this gem offers an impressive collection of exhibits and rescued live animals and exhibits for up-close viewing, including a bald eagle, a turtle pond and a deer barn."
If you don't already know what John is talking about, come see us! We're open seven days a week from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Hope to see you soon!

20 Years of Growth, Change, Birds and Memories

Lake Erie Nature & Science Center's Executive Director, Larry Richardson is marking a milestone this month: 20 years at the helm of our Bay Village organization. The Lake Erie Nature & Science Center Board of Trustees made a special presentation to Larry last night, recognizing his two decades of service.

Larry has presided over an expanding operation during the most recent third of the Center’s 60-year history. When he came to the Center in 1988, it was a treasured but small community organization, conducting about 250 programs a year. Today it's truly a regional center of excellence; with more than 2,400 programs each year and expanded facilities that include more than 100 live animals on exhibit.

Larry says,“I never wanted to change the basic philosophy of the place. Our founder, Bert Fleming’s original idea that children learn best through hands-on discovery still works. In fact, our children and families need the very real connection to nature we provide today more than ever.”
Larry’s trademark cowboy hat and mustache make him a recognizable and down-to-earth figure to people who have enjoyed the Center’s programs over the years. An avid birder, whose "life list" (of different bird species sighted) is 1,884, Larry has led groups from Northeast Ohio on birding expeditions to 15 destinations all over the world. (He just returned from Costa Rica earlier this year, where he added to that list!)

Two decades and hundreds of thousands of visitors, program participants, members, supporters, staffers and fellow-birders equal a lot of memories. You're welcome to add your favorite memory from the past 20 years in the comments below.

Happy Anniversary, Larry ... and many more!

New Touch Boxes To Explore

Lake Erie Nature & Science Center and its visitors are the beneficiary of another wonderful Eagle Scout project. Stop by and see (and touch!) the creations by Geoffrey Mauer, a Boy Scout from Troop 194 in Rocky River. Each box contains something fun from nature to explore with the sense of touch. Can't guess what it is? Open the back and peek to see! Generous In-Kind Donations of all kinds help support the non-profit work of our Center, from Wildlife Rehab to Education. Thanks to all of our in-kind donors, including Geoffrey, who's pictured here with Volunteer Coordinator Julie Mistur.

Bats Hibernating In Fridge

WEWS-TV, WTAM-radio and Cleveland Plain Dealer Animals in the News columnist Donna Miller helped spread the word about the bats we have hibernating in our rehab refrigerators this winter. Miller posted on her blog at Cleveland.com. New Channel 5 aired the story at 6 p.m. and posted a cool bat slideshow and an online story of the big brown bats and silver haired bats who came to Lake Erie Nature & Science Center after their hibernation was disturbed. WTAM News Director, Darren Toms also did some bat blogging at Newsradio 1100's website.

During its regular "awake time" for feeding, we also snapped the photo above of the Big Brown Bat eating mealworms, as well as one of the same bat being hydrated by Lake Erie Nature & Science Center Wildlife Rehabilitation Coordinator Megan Tadiello. A Silver Haired is pictured below. After three days of chowing down and drinking, the bats will be back in the fridge for three weeks. We'll repeat the cycle until the bats natural food source (bugs!) returns outdoors and they can be released (probably April or early May.)

Check out Megan's original blog entry about the hibernating bats here.

Barred Owl Loses Sight?

This Barred Owl was brought to us on March 11, 2008 suffering from head trauma. The owl was most likely hit by a car. There is blood in both eyes so the owl is being treated with steroids. The eyes will be re-evaluated in about a week.

Oiled Mallard Released!

After 5 days of bathing, the mallard had regained all its waterproofing. The bird was released back where it came from in Avon Lake.

Goose with fishing line released!

The goose was released on March 7 right back where it came from. Hopefully it’s short stay in rehab will allow it to find it’s mate(if it had one) and it can continue on with its life.

Teachers: Come Fool Around With Science!

Science teachers will get great new ideas and inspiration as well as a chance to network with new and old colleagues when the Cleveland Regional Council of Science Teachers presents its Annual Spring Symposium, Foolin' Around With Science, Tuesday, April 1, 2008 from 4 — 7 p .m. at Lake Erie Nature and Science Center. Join your fellow science educators for an evening of fun, learning, and networking. Travel out-of-this-world in the Schuele Planetarium with Lake Erie Nature and Science Center astronomers. Learn about Plant and Animal Interactions, Soil Scientists, Wild Animal Math, and States of Matter during concurrent sessions put on by other members of the Regional Alliance for Informal Science Education (RAISE): Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Lake Metroparks and Ceveland Botanical Garden. Exhibitors will be on hand as you enjoy a light dinner and networking. Bring a new teacher or student teacher from your building and help them to begin to build their professional network.
Register by March 15 for an Early Bird Discount. Download an Event Registration Form. and/or Download an Event Schedule.
This event is for members of CRCST or CRABS (Cleveland Regional Association of Biologists) only.

Center CLOSED Saturday, March 8 , 2008

Lake Erie Nature & Science Center is CLOSED Saturday, March 8, 2008 due to extreme winter weather conditions. Stay safe and warm! We'll see you soon.

Weekend Explorers Canceled

Weekend Explorers Classes for Saturday, March 8, 2008 are canceled due to the winter weather conditions and the forecast for continuing snowfall. Thanks for your understanding. Stay safe and warm!

Art Design Contest Finalists

Lake Erie Nature & Science Center is proud to announce 14 finalists in our 2008 Limited Edition T-shirt Art Design Contest. We received more than 100 wonderful and creative entries from children as young as 5 all the way up to adults. Our finalists were chosen to represent a cross section of ages and artistic experience and styles. The finalists are posted in our Kids Corner -Nature Gallery and will be on display at the Center. Please be patient as we work to make sure the art displays properly in most browsers.
Lake Erie Nature & Science Center wishes to thank everyone who entered. To help us choose the winner, stop by the Center and vote, send an email to info@lensc.org or leave a comment on this blog post. Comments are moderated.
Thanks again to all who entered. The winner will be announced by the end of March and our Limited Edition T-shirt will be on sale at our June 1 Family Fun Fest.

Breathtaking, Beautiful Nature

We're back in business today after closing our doors for the ice storm yesterday. Although it was tough sledding on the roads, wasn't it beautiful to look at the sunlight sparkling through the glazed tree branches? Hope you were able to snap some pictures to preserve the memory.
Another great nature-inspired photography contest is up on the National Widlife Federation's website. If nature's gray side is getting on your nerves, check out the breaktaking beauty of nature for a lift! Photographers in the contest captured some especially stunning photos of wildlife and/or their habitat, like this picture from further north in Canada.

Center CLOSED Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The ice and snow layers have prompted us to close our doors and cancel our classes today. Keep warm and safe and we'll see you soon! 

Oiled Mallard

This mallard was brought to us on February 28, 2008. It was found with a coating of a yellowish oil substance on its feathers. As of March 1, the bird has had 6 baths in an effort to remove the substance. The bird is doing well and will be released once its waterproofing is restored.

Canada Goose Gets Caught in Fishing Line

This Canada goose was found in Lakewood with fishing line and a fishing hook entangled in its leg. We removed the hook and line from the leg, which cut down so deeply that it caused an infection. We are treating the goose with antibiotics and pain medication. We are also doing hydrotherapy and wrapping the leg daily.