A Brush and a Lick with the Future

How many licks does it take to get to the center of nature? The world may soon know.

We haven't always had great interactions with nature even when we had the best of intentions. For instance, we thought zoos would help inform people about and connect with the environment, but the disruptive impact of zoos on the animals that live within them has made us question just how much good they do.

Thankfully, today's technology affords us opportunities to watch and experience nature without making it captive. Want to see a marmot up close and personal? We can show you that. Watch the Greenpeace video below:



The intimate interaction (can't get much closer than being licked) with the marmot suggests the dawning of a new future for our connection with nature. If we can't go see an animal in the wild on our own, we don't have to capture it and put it in an enclosure; we can glimpse it through videos as it goes about its life in natural settings. This gets us a lot closer to a true understanding of nature.

And who doesn't want to learn from nature? After all, we went to the owl for an answer to that question about Tootsie Pops.

Peeks at Beaks

If you're on your computer and looking for a quick way to connect with nature, try visiting a "nature cam" Web site.

Nature cams are situated to give you glimpses into the lives of animals. Many of these cameras look into bird nests and let you follow the progress of the avian families that inhabit them.

Two such nest cams are the Eagle Cam at the Norfolk Botanical Garden in Virginia and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Great Horned Owl Nestcam, which is located in Minnesota.

It's cool to check in with these birds on occasion, especially if you're needing to visit nature but can't get outside right away.