Friday, December 21, 2012

Woodpecker Rescue

One of my Environmental Science students arrived at school Tuesday morning with an unusual package for me. In it was what I believe to be a downy woodpecker who had crashed into a window. He was relatively motionless, but still alive and breathing. We noticed that it looked as if it had hurt its neck pretty badly.


I called several local licensed wildlife rehabilitators, to no avail (I can't blame them, it was the middle of a work day!) Then I decided to call VINS (Vermont Institute of Natural Science) which is located in Queechee, VT. I know that they have connections to help rehabilitate many animals, and are especially famous for their raptors (you can go visit the owls, eagles, and other birds of prey at their nature center!) so I figured they could at least give me advice.

They did better than that! They arranged a transport to get the bird to them so it could get the help it needed, and told me what to do in order to keep the bird comfortable while we waited. I was supposed to keep the bird in a small box, lined with a towel or pillowcase (a pillowcase is better for a woodpecker since they can get their beaks stuck in the loops in a towel.) The box should be kept in a quiet, dark place. When I told them the bird was starting to act more lively, they suggested I open the box outside and wait for 20-30 minutes to see if the bird would be well enough to go back into the wild on its own. In our case, the bird hopped out of the box, but then did not have the energy to go anywhere. It still needed help, so we sent it on the transport to VINS.

Today at around 2pm when I hadn't yet called to check on the bird, VINS called me! I am so pleased with how easy it was to get help from them, and how nice they were to me and how much they care about our wildlife here in Vermont. If you ever have a chance to visit their nature center with your kids, it is well worth the trip. Especially if you go to the Montshire Museum of Science the same day! This is exactly what my friend (of Lunches Fit For a Kid) and I did one Saturday this summer. To give you an idea what it's like, I'll attach some of those photos here.

First, the science museum:

A Rube Goldberg-like machine
Part of the outside play area


Playing with air

And the Nature Center:

She showed us this bird in flight!

Screech owl. They have such an interesting call (we got to hear it!)

Barn owl. So beautiful!

Our national icon

A sculpture that shows how a birds wings move as it flies
(if you aren't standing on it!)
View from the bridge over the nearby Queechee Gorge

Friday, August 3, 2012

Colchester Camp

This week I ran a "From the Ground Up" program in Colchester. The themes were similar to the one I ran in Milton last month, but this program was different based on the places we were able to hike, the particular interests of the kids involved, and the things we saw. For example, in this camp we discussed some orienteering and even measured our individual pace length for measuring distances in the woods.

On our way out of the woods we found some hula hoops abandoned on the playground

We spent the first two days at one site, talking about soil, groundwater, bedrock, plants, trees, some animals, and (of course) playing games. Then the third and fourth days we were at a second site where we had access to a different type of forest as well as a tiny part of Colchester bog (I posed about this site before, read about it here.) We saw several carnivorous pitcher plants, as well as cotton grass and peat moss, plants very specific to bog environments. We also found a plant we all recognized very easily. I painstakingly identified, and was the first to eat and confirm, wild blueberries! Once we were sure, we all got to chow down. There were other berries around, so we were all careful to notice the difference and only pick the right ones.

Picking blueberries

These children really picked up on tree identification, which I appreciated because it's one of my favorite parts to talk about. After only one day teaching different types of trees, the next day they came in pointing out ones they remembered. "Look, there's a white pine. And that one's a hemlock!" I barely had to use the dichotomous key with them. But I wanted them to see how to use one, and they really found it interesting.

My new, improved dichotomous key. Now with more trees!

Identifying a moose (striped) maple with the dichotomous key.

The distinct striped bark and big, three-lobed leaves of the moose maple.

As when I was teaching camp in California, the kids' favorite game to play was a game teaching strategies animals might use in the wild to avoid being caught by predators (or to catch their prey.) These kids decided to call it "Snake Eye" since snakes rely on other senses besides sight, such as hearing and scent, since their eyes are not always very strong. In the game, one player is blindfolded and has to "catch" others trying to sneak up on them only using their hearing.

 Listening...

 Nope, not there...

 Ahh, that's the ticket!

 Listening...

 Sneaking...

Sneaking...

Contrary to the way this photo looks, it was actually taken 
moments before she caught him.

We played this game in various places so we could see how the terrain affected the strategies each person used. We also discussed real-world applications of these strategies for animals.

I got some great photos of the students demonstrating a principle during our astronomy lesson on the last day. We discussed how since the moon takes 28 days to rotate on its axis as well as 28 days to revolve around the Earth, the same side is always facing the Earth. As we watch the phases of the moon over a month, we are seeing one day happen on that side of the moon.

 The pillow is to show the side of the moon facing us is denser than the other

 Rotating and revolving, moon around Earth, Earth around sun.

 Switching up the roles to give everyone a turn. We were all very dizzy!

 Drawing our own constellations on a star map


Still a favorite of all the kids, I brought my pet baby corn snake for everyone to learn about and choose to touch or hold (or not.) Everyone in this group was really excited to hold Ned.

And now for the Ned glamour shots:





Today a girl said to me "This is the best week of my life!" (apparently not only because of nature camp, but because she gets to go to the drive-in movies over the weekend.) And that right there is what keeps me doing the work I do!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Bat Rescue

I found myself in a unique situation recently: driving down the highway in 90 degree weather with no air conditioning and a bat in a box on the floor of my passenger side.

As a precursor to this story: I have training in how to deal with bats, I worked with them through the Vermont Fish and Wildlife department. Bats have a high risk of carrying rabies, which is very dangerous to humans. This is one of those "do not try at home" situations. If you come in contact with a bat, do not let anyone handle it*.

Now, back to the story.

We had found the bat baking in the sun on the pavement on our way back from lunch. I could tell from a glance that it was severely dehydrated, based on the appearance of the membrane on its wings. The first important step in any such situation is to protect yourself. We happened to be near some campus medical buildings, so I grabbed a few pairs of nitrile gloves. Being careful not to touch the bat directly, even with the gloves, I coaxed it onto a piece of cardboard and moved it out of the sun. Then, when I dribbled a small puddle of water near the bat's face, we got to see it quickly start lapping up the water like a very, very small kitten.

I made a few phone calls and found a veterinarian that deals with wildlife. That brings us back to where we started; transporting Bartleby to the vet. I named the bat Bartleby, even though I am still not 100% sure he is male. It just seemed to suit 'him'.


When I arrived one of the first questions the vet asked was about the risk of rabies exposure. I was proud to be able to tell him that nobody had direct contact with Bartleby since I became responsible for it, not even me! This made things a lot easier, and a lot safer for Bartleby since they didn't have to worry that he was spreading diseases.

They say that bats don't always respond very well to rehabilitation, but we gave it our best shot! The vet started by feeding him a sugar, vitamin, and water solution to help with the starvation and dehydration.

 Bartleby lapped it right up, must have been delicious...to a starving bat

Then they offered Bartleby some mealworms and crickets, which he refused. We figured part of the problem there might have been stress from so much human exposure. Sure enough, the vet left him alone overnight and he ate in the morning. I had to leave, but I knew I was leaving Bartleby in excellent hands.

The vet had his rabies shots, but this towel helped him not risk it while handling Bartleby.

In recent times bat populations have been in trouble, largely due to the white nose fungus but also to some unknown complications. Researchers are working to gather information on these secondary problems. Bartleby did not exhibit signs of whitenose. If we can figure out why Bartleby was struggling, we might understand better how to help the bat populations overall.



*In you find yourself in contact with a wild animal, you can contact the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department at (802) 241-3700, and they may be able to give you instruction on how to deal with your wildlife situation.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Milton Camp

We had an amazing week! I ran a "From the Ground Up" program in Milton, and we learned and explored and played all over the park. As the name (and previous version of the program) suggests, we started out on the first day talking about soil, geology, and hydrology, worked up to plants and trees, then animals, then weather and astronomy. We looked at how each builds on the foundations provided by the other aspects of the natural world.

We climbed a few trees that blocked the trail

The tidbits that stuck with the children during this week made me smile. For example, after discussing soil layers the first day, all week any leaves were called O layer and any bare soil was the A layer. "Look Lisa, we're walking on the A layer!"

Someone dug this trench and so we were able to see soil layers!

This group's creativity astounded me. I taught them the vocab word "snag" (Remember? A favorite of the little lady's.) Then we reached a fork in the trail, I asked them to "hang a right," and they countered with "don't you mean snag a right?" And when I asked them not to touch something, like an animal that's just minding its own business, they said "Yeah, we should leaf it alone!"

They also liked to call the puddles we passed "frog mansions." I loved that. We spooked a frog into the water, and then found it under the mud. It was amazing, the frog stayed stock-still, even when we were pushing it through the water. It was firmly dedicated to pretending to be a rock. I hadn't seen that before!

They all loved to be able to identify and use jewelweed, because it's so useful if you get a cut, sting, or poison ivy exposure in the woods. Each of them was able to identify it by the end of the second day.

Rubbing jewelweed on a mosquito bite for relief

I had planned on spending most of the time outside, and then some weather happened. Thankfully we had some activities that were better suited to indoors, such as astronomy. I had a map of the stars visible in summer in Vermont for each of them. They used it to design their own constellations that they could actually find in the night sky!

After this activity, one of the girls drew her own star map
and asked ME to design constellations for it.

I also have a secret weapon for making rainy days run smoother, his name is Ned. 



Ned is my personal pet, I just got him this year (he's probably only two years old!) When I asked each of the kids what their favorite part of the week was, they each said, without hesitation, "Holding Ned!"

Another favorite activity was playing "Star-Nosed Mole." While we played a lot of games and activities this week, the kids asked to play a few rounds of this game every day! One girl really loved the game because she was "really into worms." I've never heard that one before, but, whatever floats your boat!

 Look at how smug that worm is, safe from the blind mole (as long as he's quiet!)

The group dynamic really affects the way a lesson goes. I always have a lesson plan, but I stay very fluid so if the kids show particular interests then that's what the lesson will become. For example, we spent a good chunk of time discussing wild edible foods. One of the kids even taught me that you can make a dessert out of the seed pods of timothy grass! We found a lot of wood sorrel, which looks like clovers only has heart-shaped leaves and tastes a bit lemony. We also saw a lot of strawberry plants (with no fruit yet) and blackberries!

The whole week was full of special discoveries and hypotheses:

We saw the difference between sapwood and heartwood as displayed 
where the sap leaked out of this white pine when it was cut. 

We smelled wintergreeny "sweet" (black) birch 

(and tasted it too!)

We saw this GIANT snail!

 (close-up)

Other good finds include a beaver stump near the swamp, some insects with unbelievable coloration, and many, many red efts!




Saturday, June 23, 2012

Milton Reconnaissance

The other day my friend (author of Lunches Fit For a Kid) came with me to investigate the trails at the park in Milton, so that I'll know where to go during my summer camp next week. It is a very interesting place,  and you'll see much more of it in the coming week I'm sure. Lots of different trees to talk about, ferns galore, and even some wildlife :)

Like this guy

We saw a few different American Toads (like that guy.) Common misconception: toads ARE frogs. We like to make the distinction that toads are more terrestrial, and they have drier, bumpy skin, but there is no difference according to the scientific family tree. They also don't have warts: their skin is supposed to be like that. The bumpiness helps break up their outline, so it's camouflage!

That bump behind its eye is a gland, not a wart.

While you can't get warts from touching toads, their sensitive skin can be harmed by your hands! I make it a point to never handle amphibians if I have sunblock or insect repellent or other harsh, chemical substances on my hands. The substances would enter their body easily through their super-absorptive skin and that would not make a happy little critter.

No toads were harmed in the making of this post. I've been trained in how to hold them, and I let him go right back where I found him :)



Sunday, June 17, 2012

Ticks!

I've been hearing a lot of concern about ticks recently; from parents, from my friends, from the inside of my own head...Tick bites are definitely something to be concerned about, but as long as they are properly dealt with nobody should have any reason to worry. I've had plenty of 'em, and have never suffered any ill effects (aside from the gross-out factor.) Tick worry should never keep you and your children from adventuring, you just need to know how to deal with them. So, here's how.

Step One. Actually the only step I'll list. It is the best, easiest, and most important step, the rest are just details. Every time you are outside, check yourself for ticks at the end of the day. Every time. I cannot stress this enough, catching a tick bite early is the best way to prevent any ill effects (more on this later.) A tick can be tiny, so even look for something that could just look like a new freckle. Check your whole body, use a mirror for your back, especially check the base of the neck, hairline, and armpits. I have seen a lot of bites right along the waistline of pants (especially near the bellybutton.) Change your clothes once you get inside, and check them to make sure you're not bringing ticks inside on them. Another good piece of advice one of my outdoorsy friends told me recently: "In summer I switch from taking a morning shower to a night-time shower, just to be sure."

What you're looking for.
Only the top one can carry Lyme disease, but you could see any of these around here.

If you catch a tick before it has bitten you, you have to be sure to get rid of it properly. Now, normally I am the type of person who will go out of their way to bring an insect or spider outdoors instead of using my shoe, but things like ticks and mosquitoes are my exception. They made it personal. When you are trying to be rid of a tick, make sure to crush them (they are much harder to successfully squish than other insects.) Dispose of the bodies in an outdoor trash or flush them down the toilet, you want to be sure they're gone.

If you have a bite, make sure to remove the tick by the part that is closest to your skin (you don't want to squeeze the tick's body while it's still biting you, this creates more risk of infection.) Put the tick in some rubbing alcohol to kill it and take a look at it. Take a picture if you want, so you can tell what type of tick it was. Ultimately though, if you present symptoms a doctor would test you and not the tick, so you can get rid of it. Back to your wound, be sure to check and make sure you didn't leave behind the tick's head, nobody wants that. It would look like a little black speck in the bite area, or a headless tick in your pool of alcohol. For the record, it might be tricky to get all the mouthparts out, but this should not increase your risk of infection. Just do your best. 

Here's what people really need to know about tick bites: am I going to get sick? Most people who get bitten do not! Not all ticks carry Lyme diease. Only the blacklegged (or "deer") tick does, and they have to have bitten an infected creature before they bite you in order to be a carrier. The biggest reason not to panic about Lyme disease is timing. If you do a tick check after every time you are outside then the bite cannot have been there very long. If a tick has been implanted on you less than 24 hours then there is a very low chance that they can give you the disease, even if they have it.

What you need to do is watch the bite area, one of the first symptoms is a bulls-eye type rash around the area. Sometimes this rash doesn't happen, so if you go to your doctor with flu-like symptoms and a stiff neck within a few weeks of a tick bite, be sure to tell them about the bite. If you do have Lyme disease and catch it early, it's just like any other type of bacterial infection. It is not fun, but antibiotics clear it right up. Again, some of my friends have been treated for Lyme disease, and they're outside right now none the worse for the wear.

If you have any more questions about ticks, be sure to shoot them my way. Or the website for the Vermont Department of Health has some very excellent information, you can find it here.


Friday, June 1, 2012

A Turtle and a Trail


Here are two interesting wildlife encounters I had over Memorial Day weekend.

For starters, I've been seeing a lot of painted turtles in my yard and driveway recently. I managed to snap a picture of this little lady digging a hole to lay her eggs right at the bottom of my back steps.


 Close-up

The second is an entirely new experience to me, and just about the coolest thing I've seen all year. I was kayaking up the Winooski River when all of a sudden the river widened and became only ankle deep and very clear. I saw this crazy winding track in the sand at the bottom next to my boat. My first though was that it was possibly left by a boat that got beached before me, and dragged its tail end trying to get back to deeper waters.

It's pretty wide!

I followed it until I reached the end, and I noticed this big lump of a thing. Perhaps somebody dropped something off the boat?

No wait...

 It is what's making the trail!

 Just the largest mussel I've ever seen. And let me tell you, I've seen some mussels.


Mussels move by extending a muscular 'foot' out of the opening between their two shells and dragging themselves along after it. You can see evidence of this in the picture above. I watched it, its motion was so slow it was hard to tell it was moving but after awhile I could see its position had changed relative to its surroundings.

As I moved up the river I saw more of these paths, usually ending in a half-buried mussel or a mound indicating a fully buried one. This experience was amazing, I felt like I had an invitation to see a whole world that is usually kept secret and hidden.