Hidden Central:
THE BEAR FACTS
Kirsten Nicholson and her team loaded two 10-foot-tall
taxidermied grizzly bears on a flatbed trailer back in 2007 and
headed for CMU's Museum of Cultural and Natural History.
Nicholson, the museum's curator, retrieved the massive animals
from the home of Judy Dean whose husband, Dale, shot them
while hunting in Alaska and British Columbia years ago.
"We covered them up with a tarp, and I drove 25 miles an hour
all the way back from Midland," Nicholson says. "At one point, the
tarp blew back and a bear's arms were showing. You should've
seen the looks we got."
The grizzlies, which likely weighed around 500 pounds each
before they were stuffed, are on display in the main gallery, along
with a sensor pad that lights up and growls for museum visitors.
"When we have our staff meetings and there are visitors,
we usually count to 20 before we hear the screams," Nicholson
says. "The bears are a lot of fun and a great way to introduce
visitors to wildlife in need of conservation." •
PHOTO BY STEVE JESSMORE, '81
32
centralight winter'14
