Falcon Cam – June 1, 2018

by Liz TOTH

The falcons now have three chicks!  Both parents have been spending a lot of time keeping the newly hatched chicks warm this past week as they were also incubating the remaining egg.

The third chick is a bit smaller than the two others that hatched 5 and 7 days ago.  The parents take care of the chicks keeping them warm and providing food for them. The chicks are unable to thermoregulate well for the first 10 days of their lives.

Daniel continues to do most of the hunting, especially for the first few days after a chick hatches.  When Daniel brings food to the nest box, Dayton tears it up by standing on it and holding it in place with her talons and ripping it with her sharp beak.  The chicks eat the same food as their parents and Dayton will place tiny pieces of food into their beaks.

Once the chicks are fed Dayton will eat some herself and then go back to feeding the chicks.  Almost all of their recent meals have been songbirds but it is possible they may bring a larger bird to the nest.  This image is just after the newly hatched chick had one of his first meals.

Liz Toth is Associate Curator of Live Animals at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.

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Falcon Cam – May 26, 2018

by LIZ TOTH

The chicks are hatching!  The female falcon was very active yesterday and the first chick was visible mid-day today.  Chicks have a sharp egg tooth on the top of their beak which will disappear shortly after hatching.  Pipping is when the chick starts to break through the egg’s shell.  One or two days after pipping the chick begins moving around in the shell.  The egg tooth on the beak begins scraping the shell as the chick moves.  This scraping removes part of the shell and the chick emerges.

Early in the season we had suspected Daniel may have a new mate named Belle.  The female at the nest displayed different behaviors than Dayton had in the past so we suspected she may be new.  Belle was spotted in January in Deeds Park and is a banded female from Kentucky.  After watching the Falcon Cam it seems that the current female is unbanded so we will continue to call her “Dayton”.  It could be the same female as in past seasons but without bands it is impossible to know her true identity.

Liz Toth is Associate Curator of Live Animals at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.

Falcon Cam – May 25, 2018

by LIZ TOTH

The falcons have been spending a lot of time wiggling on the eggs to press the bare skin on the chest, called the brood patch, down on the eggs to keep them warm.  In species where only the female incubates the eggs the male doesn’t develop a brood patch.  Male and female peregrines both have brood patches because they share incubation of the eggs.  If you watch the Falcon Cam you’ll see the adult peregrines rock side-to-side as they settle on the nest.  This rocking opens the feathers that have curled over the brood patch and puts their skin in contact with the eggs.

The chicks should hatch very soon.  As the date for possible hatching draws closer we can expect to see the female arranging the stones around the scrape as she prepares for hatching.  Just prior to hatching she may hear the chicks inside the eggs and seem more alert.  The female has been very alert today indicating hatching should be soon.

Liz Toth is Associate Curator of Live Animals at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.

A Lifelong Interest in Native American Life Inspired American Plains Collection Donation

 

Moccasins

By ELIZABETH FISHER

 

In 1926 the Dayton Society of Natural History (DSNH) received one of its largest ethnographic collections. Katharine Houk Talbott of Dayton donated nearly 200 objects from the American Plains, but they were collected by “Dr. A. L. Corey.”

Anson LeGrande Corey, born in 1848 in Potter County, Pennsylvania, headed West at the age of sixteen and never looked back. He formed relationships with Native American communities in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, and was closely associated with the Crow and Arapaho people. Corey was documented as the first white man who ever sat in council with the Arapaho’s, and reportedly “lived among the Indians for more than fifty years.”

Pouch

He became well known for his artistic talents and training in the “Indian Arts” and taught these skills to the local Native American community at St. Michael’s Mission. Exhibits of this work traveled nationwide. Corey’s skills extended to doctoring the sick and injured often. He never received formal training and was referred to as the “Indian doctor.”

In June 1923, two years before his death, Corey visited Dayton to superintend the arrangement of the “Indian exhibit” he recently sold Mrs. H. E. Talbott. Highly publicized in the Dayton Daily News on October 2, “Lifelong Friend of Indians Spends the Week Here,” Corey spent time with Mrs. H. E. Talbott “…cataloguing the finest collection of Indian treasures ever assembled in this country outside the Smithsonian Institute.” Little is still known of the relationship between Mrs. H. E. Talbott and Corey, but thanks to their efforts the collection gives a rare and fine insight into the American Plains lifeway.

Parfleche

 

 

 

Elizabeth Fisher is the Collections Manager and Registrar for the Dayton Society of Natural History.

 

George and Romie Gunckel: Explorer’s Collection Documents a Thoughtful Passion for World History

by ELIZABETH FISHER

A native of Dayton, George I. Gunckel grew up at 527 West 2^nd Street, an affluent and formative neighborhood in the city.  He was recognized as a member of a pioneering and influential family in the community. Gunckel’s father, Oliver I. Gunckel was considered a “man of affluence in Dayton” and “represented one of the old pioneer families” of the region. His grandfather and namesake, George W. Gunckel, at the age of 83, was depicted as the second oldest pioneer resident in the Village of Germantown in the Dayton Daily News on August 2, 1904. His death in 1909 was documented “as the last [member] of this famous family, which has done so much for Montgomery County.”

Gunckel’s First Post  – Guard Mount at Camp Marahui

It was a flourishing time in military dentistry and an unsettling period in the Southern Philippines. Gunckel and his wife, Romie, spent the first three years in Southern Philippines among the Moro people. The Muslim or Moro population were resistant to foreign occupation since the Spanish-American War. Regardless, the Gunckel’s had respect for the people and culture. Over 260 objects in the Gunckel collection at the Dayton Society of Natural History represent the Philippine culture and Moro people.

Food Basket

Enlistment dental standards, until WWII, “only required enough teeth to bite off the end of the cartridge so that the gunpowder and bullet (ball) could be loaded into a muzzleloader rifle.

Following his prosperous adolescence, George I. Gunckel earned the title of D.D.S. in 1899 from Ohio Medical University, after graduating from Ohio State University and Orchard Lake Military School. One year later, he married “Greenville girl” Romie Elizabeth Turner. After establishing a private dentistry practice, in 1904 he joined the U. S. Army Medical Corps as a Contract Dental Surgeon. Shortly afterward, George and Romie sailed for the Philippine Islands for the next three years. Lieutenant Colonel Gunckel served as a dental surgeon for the U. S. Army Medical Corps from 1904 to 1919.

Brass Gong

Gunckel concluded his military service after WWI and traveled the world with his wife during retirement. They eventually returned to Gunckel’s childhood home in Dayton, where they resided until his death at 61 on April 17, 1937.

After his final retirement from dentistry, George and Romie Gunckel traveled worldwide visiting places like Alaska, the American Southwest, Western Indians, South America, and Mexico.

Bamboo Harp

In 1946, Mrs. Romie Gunckel transferred the Gunckel collection to the Dayton Public Library Museum, or Dayton Society of Natural History (DSNH) as we know it today, in memory of her husband. These included Japanese samurai armor, Spanish armor, swords, spears, baskets, musical instruments, shields, woven garments such as sarongs and sashes, and much more.

 

Samurai Armor. Left Shin Protector

Romie sold their home to the American Red Cross during WWII and returned to Greenville where she passed away on September 6, 1948.

Elizabeth Fisher is Collections Manager and Registrar for the Dayton Society of Natural History.

 

 

 

Complete Your Holiday Shopping List at the Discoveries Gift Shop at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery!

ANGELA M. SHAFFER

Are you still searching for the perfect holiday gifts for your friends and family? The Discoveries Gift Shop at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery offers thousands of educational, fun, and unique items for everyone on your list! Whether you’re searching for hands-on science and robot kits, striking rock and fossil specimens, colorful plush pieces, or even a Star Wars™ Death Star™ serving platter, we’ve got you covered!

Our knowledgeable, friendly Guest Services staff is always happy to help you choose the perfect gift. Visit us anytime the Museum is open (9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. on Sunday); you may shop anytime in the Discoveries Shop without paying general admission.

Just in time for the busy holiday shopping season, here are some of our most popular items and staff favorites, organized by price. Happy holidays!

Stocking stuffers under $5.00

We have a plethora of fun stocking stuffers at affordable prices. A perennial favorite is astronaut ice cream, in delicious flavors like mint chocolate chip and cinnamon apple wedges. Other bestsellers include bright Ty™ plush clips for accessorizing backpacks and jackets, sparkling crack-open geodes and amethyst and citrine specimens, earthy rock and mineral dig kits, slimy Mars mud and Pluto plasma,  and slippery water snakes—all priced at $4.99 or less!

Stocking stuffers under $10.00

You’ll find lots to of unique plush pieces in the Discoveries Shop, and we carry several smaller pieces, including super-soft otters, meerkats, and sloths. If you’ve got a little one who loves to play with diecast toys, we’ve got those, too, including trains, police cars, planes, and tractors. You can fill a branded drawstring bag with rocks or magnet stones to give to a young geologist, or you can gift a robot claw to a young explorer!

Gifts under $20.00

We carry a wide variety of DIY science kits for less than $20.00, so stock up for all of the budding astronomers, paleontologists, and scientists on your list! Just in time the holidays, new Ty Gear™ plush backpacks are available in a variety of styles. You’ll also find ant farms, large plastic dinosaurs, mermaid-and fairy-making kits, and backpacks full of themed diecast toys!

Gifts under $50.00

For less than $50.00, there are several truly unique options in the Discoveries Shop. The Inclocknito and Spy Science Money Safe kits allow kids to keep their treasures safe, while our brand-new Scientific Robot kit offers many experiments and learning opportunities in one convenient package. Dinosaur table lamps offer a cool way to light up the night, and impressive pizza and space station playsets will bring hours of imaginative play to the creative kids on your list. And don’t forget the large Ty™ Beanie Boos™ and Beanie Babies™, which promise hours of colorful cuddling fun!

Adults

What do you buy for the guy or gal who has everything? A Bigfoot action figure or scarf, of course, or perhaps Star Wars™ salt-and-pepper shakers or that Death Star™ serving platter! Pass the time by completing a puzzle featuring the periodic table of the elements or beautiful gemstones; keep the time with a cool galaxy-print (or, yes, Star Wars™-themed) wall clock. Cozy socks in a variety of fun animal designs help keep cold winter feet warm; cold winter mornings are made a little more bearable when hot coffee or tea is sipped from a handwarmer animal mug. And office work always goes a little faster when you have a woodpecker stapler or otter tape dispenser by your side.

Visit the Discoveries Gift Shop today and let us help you choose the perfect holiday gifts!

Angela M. Shaffer is the Senior Manager, Guest Services and Database Management at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.

Legendary Shawnee Chief Tecumseh Inducted Into Dayton Region’s Walk of Fame

ANDREW SAWYER

The last week of September has been celebrated as American Indian Week in Ohio since 2014 when the Ohio General Assembly voted to publicly recognize American Indian communities and their history in our state. An additional acknowledgment of Ohio’s American Indian heritage took place recently in Dayton as well. Since the City of Dayton Bicentennial in 1996, the Dayton Region’s Walk of Fame has set out to recognize outstanding individuals and groups for their enduring personal or professional contributions to the community, nation, and the world. On Thursday, September 28, the Dayton Region’s Walk of Fame inducted their first American Indian into that group, Shawnee Chief  Tecumseh.

         Legendary Shawnee Chief                   Tecumseh

Born in 1768 in southern Ohio, Tecumseh grew up during an era when the newly independent United States was expanding into the Ohio Valley homeland of the Shawnee and other indigenous tribes. This expansion was opposed by American Indian tribes in the region including the Shawnee, Miami, Delaware, and many others, who joined forces in the late 1700s to defend their homelands. The signing of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 ceded southern Ohio to the United States. After this, Tecumseh was determined to keep what land remained for the Shawnee in Ohio, and if possible to reclaim land that had been ceded.

The Meeting of Brock and Tecumseh: War of 1812 Bicentennial – C.W. Jeffereys

With this in mind Tecumseh, along with his brother Tenskwatawa (The Shawnee Prophet), reassembled a confederacy of American Indian tribes who fought against previous U.S. expansion and joined forces with the British in the War of 1812 in hopes of accomplishing those goals. Tecumseh’s death at the Battle of the Thames in October of 1813 ended those hopes, but he continues to be remembered as a brilliant military strategist and organizer. Ultimately the U.S. forced the removal of the Shawnee and other tribes from Ohio to “Indian Territory” in what are now the states of Kansas and Oklahoma.

While Tecumseh’s vision of maintaining tribal territory in their Ohio homelands may not have succeeded, his hopes for the survival of the Shawnee did, and many of them were in Dayton to celebrate his rightful induction into the Dayton Region’s Walk of Fame.

Andrew Sawyer is an anthropologist and archaeologist. He is the Site Director of SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park in Dayton, Ohio.