Bison, Coyotes and Bears…Oh My!
Exploring the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

	A bison grazing before the magnificent Wyoming Teton Mountains.
	Janina and Kim, 2005 participants, peering through a telescope to observe beavers at Oxbow Bend.

By Jodi Stewart, staff writer

Jump on the "Yellowstone road" and explore the natural history of Wyoming's magnificent Grand Teton National Park.

This year, Girl Scouts of the USA has teamed up with Girl Scouts of Northeast Georgia to host the Wyoming's Wildlife Wonders STUDIO 2B destination. Twenty-four girls from all around the country will hike, paddle and explore their way through aspen and pine forests, fields of wildflowers and mountain lakes. The girls will search for great horned owls and assist with a national bird-banding effort. They'll camp under the stars, and explore careers in the outdoors.

Being the Change

One of the coolest things about the event is that the girls get to work on a conservation service project. They learn how to be positive change agents as they develop a plan to implement a project back home to meet a community environmental need. Past projects have included developing an ecology camp for Girl Scouts, harnessing neighborhood investment in river restoration, implementing a recycling program, designing an interpretive nature trail and teaching Leave No Trace ethics. Read about more awesome conservation projects past participants have done.

Go Virtual

Even if you aren't in Wyoming, you can get up close and personal with bison, coyotes and bears right along with the girls on the trip from your very own computer. Check out the Girl Scouts of Northeast Georgia's Web site. It may not be a glistening Emerald City, but it's a wildlife-and-science lover's dream trip. See for yourself.

Chasing Coyotes and Bears

One of the most memorable parts of the trip is learning how to "chase coyotes and bears." Megan, 15 from Girl Scouts – Cotton Boll Area, a 2005 Wyoming's Wildlife Wonders participant, explains in her own words:

The Wyoming's Wildlife Wonders trip taught me more than just wildlife ecology and natural history. It taught me how to enjoy the great outdoors in more ways than you'd think. It's the simple things in life that you often take for granted, like toilets with running water!

Our fantastic instructors at the Teton Science Schools taught us in a fun way how to "do your business" when your miles away from a bathroom. Many girls on the trip never thought they'd be faced with this challenge. We all had fun with this, perhaps you'll get a laugh out of it, too.

How to chase coyotes:

1. Go off the trail, or as we would say, "out in the woods," and squat. (Find a rock to squat on; it's better for the plants and animals.)
2. Never leave your pants on. That might be a problem. So you'll want to pull down any pants, shorts or whatever you have on.

How to chase bears:

1. Keep in mind the basic rules of "chasing coyotes."
2. First you want to dig a hole with a shovel, a stick or something you can find close to you on the ground. (Don't make the hole too big.)
3. Next, do your business, also known as "chasing a bear." Then, after doing your business, be careful choosing what you use to wipe with. Don't accidentally grab poison ivy or oak. If you brought toilet paper with you, you'll need to put it in a plastic baggie and pack it back out with you.
4. Be sure to cover up your hole with soil and put a rock on top of it so it isn't obvious to the animals that live there.

Wyoming's Wildlife Wonders STUDIO 2B destination is a Linking Girls to the Land collaboration made possible with funding from the Elliott Wildlife Values Project.