Take your Valentine to the High Desert Museum
Lunch and learn about animal mating habits of the High Desert,
the steamy side of frontier life. Stroll nature trails with
amorous wildlife, and explore exhibit halls.
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Bend, Ore. - This year, visitors will find plenty of reasons to
bring their valentines to the High Desert Museum.Not only is
the Museum a relaxing, inspiring mini-getaway, just 10 minutes
from downtown in a pristine, 135-acre forest, the Museum's new
special programs around Valentine's Day offer unique ways to
honor the romantic holiday.A new Lunch and Lecture series
topic: Valentine's Day in the Animal Kingdom, on Feb. 16, 11:30
a.m. to 1 p.m., will fascinate you with wildlife mating habits.
Discover from Museum experts how courtship tactics in the wild
are not so unlike that of humans. Lunch is included. $15.
Members, $10.
The Museum is home to amorous animals, most notably a pair of spotted owls, Polka and Dot, the only Northern spotted owls in North America to have bred in captivity. Their chicks have been released into the wild as part of efforts to boost the numbers of this threatened species. The fact that the owls produced offspring at the Museum for several consecutive years is a testament to the quality of their habitat and care at the Museum. Owls will not breed in captivity unless they are healthy, happy, and secure in their surroundings.The Museum also has a pair of bald eagles, Kokanee and Charisma, who share an outdoor habitat at the Donald M. Kerr Birds of Prey Center. They have not displayed any romantic behavior thus far, but it's conceivable that they could produce some baby bald eagles here, according to Museum Wildlife Curator Nolan Harvey.
The steamier side of frontier life is coming into focus at the
Museum on Feb. 18, with the Lunch and Lecture topic Sin in the
Sagebrush 1830-1930.Curator of Western History Bob Boyd
offers a sneak preview of an upcoming exhibit, with rare
artifacts and voices of the High Deserts boomtowns, saloons,
gambling halls, parlor houses, and more. Includes lunch. 11:30
am - 1 pm. $15. Members, $10.
For details visit www.highdesertmuseum.org.
or call (541) 382-4754.
