Blue Sky Times: Fat Bears, British Beavers and Sukkot at Loyola

Blue Sky Times: Fat Bears, British Beavers and Sukkot at Loyola

Loyola is approaching fall break and though this means a four-day rest for students, the week leading up is often filled with sleepless nights trying to finish that last assignment. In this time of mid-semester clutter, the Blue Sky Times good news column is here to remind you it will turn out just fine. Enjoy some of this week’s positive news stories. 

British Beavers 

The first baby beaver born in London in 400 years was spotted after an 18-month-long effort by the Enfield council to reintroduce them into the capital, BBC reported.

This is part of a wider rewilding initiative and national flood management project by the council. The baby beaver will go through a series of health checks and also have its sex confirmed by an experienced exotic wildlife veterinarian. 

Beavers were hunted to extinction during the Elizabethan era for their meat and fur, The Guardian reported.

Capel Manor College animal collections manager Meg Wilson told BBC she is thrilled about the arrival of the new beaver. 

“We are now focusing our efforts on collecting data, which we hope will provide further evidence about the positive effects the beavers are having on the environment,” Wilson said.

The Fattest of Bears

Much to the delight of fans, the annual Fat Bear Week competition has returned, The Washington Post reported. Starting Oct. 4, the top 12 fattest brown bears in Alaska’s Katmai National Park will face off in a bracket-style tournament to determine which bear is best at packing on the pounds. 

Fans can witness the bears live as they feast at Brooks Falls via the Explore.org livestream and vote every day from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST until Oct. 10 to determine which bears have captured the most hearts and the most fish, according to the National Parks Service.

These mammals narrowly avoided the effects of a government shutdown, which would have furloughed the Katmai National Park Rangers who provide crucial information about the bears and create the bracket, The Washington Post reported.

With the shutdown averted and barring any further complications, the bracket will end Oct. 10 with the naming of one bear as 2023 Fat Bear Week champion and their establishment as the fattest bear of them all, according to Explore.org.

Loyola Sukkah

Hillel of Loyola is hosting an event called Snacks in the Sukkah the week of Oct. 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. between the west side of Damen and the red line in honor of the week following the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. 

A sukkah is a booth-like structure which replicates the dwellings that Israelites stayed in on their journey through the desert. They are used to commemorate the holiday of Sukkot, which translates most directly to the Feast of Booths. 

The celebration of Sukkah comes with a harvest feast, and it’s traditional for families to have a booth and eat their meals in it in order to thank God for the gifts he provides them with. 

Have a wonderful week everyone and remember, as the Indigo Girls once sang, “And the less I seek my source for some definitive / Closer I am to fine, yeah.”

Featured image by Lilli Malone / The Phoenix