Day Six:

 We visited Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and s nice park ranger named Valerie gave us an introduction, it was nice in there, I haven't gone to a historical museum in 11 years so it felt nice to suck in important facts from years before my time and to see them made it even better especially the part where we entered the first part of the museum where the large Columbia Mammoth was located  I learned that unlike wooly mammoths, the Columbian mammoths lived in milder climate zones and has only a thin covering of hair similar to elephants today. Clovis people hunted these mammoths, likely contributing to their demise between 10,000 and 11,000 years ago. Both male and female mammoths and mastodons had huge curving ivory tusk which helped with foraging and defense against predators. the tusk grew spirally with mammoth tusk reaching 11 to 12 feet (3.5 m/) and mastodon tusk exceeding 8 feet (2.5 m). tusk have annual growth rings, similar to tree rings. when a mammoth is stress the growth rings are thin and pregnancy can be readily observable in the ring too, Dick Caldwell found a tusk fifteen miles from Discover Center. The mammoth bones have been found along the Kotzebue coastline of northwest Alaska. I learned about a mammoths tusk and jawbone, mammoths were herbivores, grazing on grasses which were ground between their massive upper and lower molars. The molars developed in the rear of the jaw and moved forward to replace worn-down teeth in the front, which would be expelled. Only six sets of teeth were produced during a mature mammoth's lifetime. Each set had four teeth, two upper jaw, and two in the lower. If the mammoth survived long enough to use up all his  teeth, it would be unable to eat and would succumb to starvation.

 I also got to learn about the Dier Wolf who co-existed throughout North-America with the gray wolf, coyote, jackal, fox, and domestic dog until about 9,000 years ago.  it was the largest canid to have lived, reaching as much as 150 pounds with powerful bone-cracking jaws and teeth.

Giant Short-faced Bear was one of the creatures in the museum who fascinated me the most  because it had a shirt body in relation to their long legs. unlike pigeon -toed modern bears, they walked with their feet pointing forward. they were built lighter than brown or grizzly bears, but were bigger overall, reaching a standing height taller than a polar bear. These giant bears were highly carnivorous and likely used their size to overpower smaller predators, such as wolves, scimitar cats, and American lions, to take their carrion. A board snout enhanced their sense of smell and long legs made them adept at ranging over large areas in search of food. a short faced added powerful jaw leverage. suitable for crushing bone and ripping meat apart. After that, two lady's showed us three birds: Red Tail Hawk, what surprised me about her species was that is takes a 120 mph dive I also learned that females are a lot larger than the males in the raptor world. American Castrol are related to pargoton falcon, and the Great Horn Owl is called horn owl because of its horn like ears. I had a fun experience because it felt like I went back in time, it was great.
 

When we were finished touring the museum we went and looked at the petroglyphs and the one that amazed me was She Who Watches because it was on the rock for 300 years and the story behind it was a lady who promised she would for ever watch over the river and the rock now is literally facing the river. it was amazing looking at 300 year old drawings, my curiosity keeps deepening.