Once we got to the park we noticed a covered bridge, so we headed there first. Lo and behold, behind the bridge we found a sign directing us towards the trail to Salish Ponds Wetlands Park. So of course we had to take it!
Cody on the covered bridge.
Hitting the trail!
Cody and Zoe contemplating the mysteries of life while enjoying the creek.
We were the only ones on the trail and Cody was hoping we'd get to see some wildlife. I told him not to get his hopes up since the dog was with us. I was wrong. We did stumble across some wildlife, almost literally.
Yes, isn't that a lovely sight! And fresh, too! (See, Stace, buried dead things aren't so bad, are they!) Cody's first statement was "Do you think whatever killed it is still here??" After I assured him that we and the dog probably scared off whatever it was, I said "See, and you didn't think this trip would be educational!" To which he replied "Hey, we could skin it and tan it's hide!" Yeah right. A homeschool mom has to draw the line somewhere! We did get the chance to see two live ones a little later on. And I'm not too proud to admit that I squealed with glee just like a little girl when they darted front of us a little further up the path.
A few hundred feet down the way he noticed a little shrew darting in and out of the underbrush. Cody's Spidey Senses must have been working overtime - I have no idea how he saw it! The little bugger wasn't even as big as my thumb. I tried getting a photo of it, but it was too fast. Cody was lamenting how he wished I'd gotten a photo of the shrew, and maybe we'd get to see another, when we stumbled upon this:
A dead shrew. Oh well, at least the dead things were getting smaller.
Here's some of the flowers we saw on our walk. If you know what they are. let me know. Just don't ask *me* what they are. We're lucky I can identify them as "flowers" ;D
On the walk back, Cody spotted 5 ducklings swimming in the creek. We wondered if they belonged to "our" ducks, Mike and Carol.
We're planning on going back next week for a picnic. Hopefully all of the wildlife will be a little more alive.
16 comments:
Hmmm, everywhere you go, there is death and destruction. Coincidence or ???? LOL! (See, I'm in a better mood today!)
What a fun walk! Let me ask dh about the flower; he's not bad at that sort of thing. the top one looks a lot like wild blackberries, but I don't know the rest (although the second pic is very familiar).
I'll get back to ya.
Ok, dh said that pic #1 did look like blackberries. Pic #2 looks like some sort of a rose. No idea about #3. I hope someone else knows!
I'm jealous of your weather! Today here in San Antonio...it was 110. Last night we ran to the grocery about 11pm...and it was 91. Atlanta is hot...but not like this.
I think if I took my girls on a nature walk like yours...that would be the end to nature walks :-)
Teresa,
Glad you're in better spirits today! And thanks to you and your hubby for identifying 2 of the flowers.
Kat,
It's not the heat, it's the humidity (yeah, right!) I hated summer when we lived in Texas - and we weren't near the gulf. You must *really* love your BFF!
And I'll admit, our nature walks aren't for everyone. ;D For the record, though, it's not like we go looking for this stuff. Really, we don't! I wouldn't have even noticed the dead things - Cody was the one who pointed them out. Must be some kind of boy radar.
For the love of all that is small, furry, and cute, I am begging you not to go back again!! But next time we have a mouse problem, you guys will be our first invites!! Is there anything better than a nature walk???? Even the Techies will agree that the answer is no. Glad you had fun...
Have you ever dissected "owl pellets" before. They seem gross at first, but my kids really enjoyed picking the tiny bones of a shrew out of ours and laying the skeleton out in order. It's a great science project and nothing gets hurt in the process. It's only dried owl throw-up! Nothing but loose hair and bones, all pressed into a nice oval ball.
Check them out at pellet.com
Topsy,
OK, knowing that you guys take electronics with you everywhere you go, I have to ask: Do you take tech-free nature walks?? :)
Yes, feel free to call us next time you find mice. I'm not sure that our "gift" applies to larger animals, but obviously the small, furry creatures don't stand a chance!
Kimberly,
We actually have some owl pellets, but we've never done anything with them. We'll have to pull them off the shelf this week and give them a go. That kind of stuff doesn't gross me out at all - but my hubby is another story! They had an episode of "Dirty Jobs" where Mike Rowe went out to collect owl pellets, and when I told hubby that we had some, he thought I was nuts! This is a man who spent his youth deer hunting, and he gets weirded out by owl vomit. Go figure.
Oooh, owl pellets! We loved dissecting our owl pellet, and trying to put the bones together to see what animals they used to be. I should buy another one so ds#2 can do it on his own this time.
What's also fun is if you find a dead animal (and you found several!), put it in an open wire cage in a field (this is rather hard if you live in a city with your neighbors very close by) until it is completely decomposed and you're left with the bones. We did that with a raccoon once and have a beautiful skull to show for it (alas, we didn't put it in a cage, so various animals dragged parts of it off). A hs friend of mine who used to work for the DNR said they did that regularly for displays in the nature centers at state parks.
LOL yea..I guess buried dead things aren't so bad :-P You son sounds like my kids with the "can we skin and tan it?"...They are forever asking us to do that...but I'm not too keen about stopping and throwing road kill into my van..the smell never comes out :-P
The pink flower and (i think ) the white are wild roses..Rugosa Rose I have both in my yard..and my lawn..they just keep spreading but I'm not complaining ;-D
My kids would prefer your types of nature walks. "Hey, cool! Can we take it home? Mom, touch it!"
Ah...nature walks. In my homeschool fantasies these would be weekly occurences...
Seems like you guys had a succesful nature walk though. Ew on the dead animals, although my kids would find it just as cool. And at least they hold still for the photo. ;-)
I second (third?) the owl pellet suggestion. Even my oldest daughter, who feigned prissiness over the idea, ended up really getting into it and enjoying the dissection.
wow, did I have a lot of spelling errors/typos. Please ignore. I need a nap.
My dad and I are often exploring our local countryside....dad knows many of the birds, animals and plants so it's always educational...we quite often see rabbits, mice, tons of birds and deer roaming around....never quick enough to get a pic though...once when the whole family went a roaming (many moons ago) my sister and I found that 'faries' had even left smarties (kinda like M & M's) on a tree log upon our return...now....I believe it's possible my father may have been involved, but to this day I still don't know how he did it
Teresa,
Hmm, I don't know if I *want* to brng the dead thing home to see decompose, but I wouldn't mind going back and checking on it. Some homeschool friends of ours did this with a dead opposum they found and (affectionately??) named "Mr. Melty."
Stace,
I'm with you - no dead things are making in into the vehicle!
Teri,
I'm *so* glad my son didn't ask to touch it! That would have grossed me out! Actually, the shrew wouldn't have been too bad, but the bloody bunny? Nope!
Lori,
We used to go on walks daily - when we lived in warm, sunny California! Not so much since we move back to Oregon ;) We're hoping to get out more often, rain or shine. We certainly have plenty of places to go. Consider all your typos excused. Hope you get your nap :D
Emma,
We have a candy called smarties here, but they're like little sweettarts (do you guys have those? If not, then it's a pretty bad example, isn't it??) Love the fairy story. I wonder if your dad would fess up to it now, or keep you guessing... ;D
Mr. Melty !!!!!!!
ROFLMAO on that one!
We pick up turtle shells, large dead bugs ( we have a 3 inch hunter wasp that is very cool), misc. vertebrae, and we even have a rhino beetle in a jar that my son found this morning.
I save my small canning jars and I have drilled holes using my drill press. This create nice smooth holes and nobody can get cut. We keep these jars under the kitchen sink and even on in the car. We also keep lots of hand sanitizer around, so I encourage the kids to look and touch!
sweettarts?....um, nope...smaties are just little choccies covered in a sugary shell....my dad?....fess up? alas along with the magical moving chalk 'x' trick he did once at my sisters birthday party and still drives the pair of us crazy trying to figure out how he did it....i suspect the old boy now no longer remembers the details...even when he insists he does...he just likes messing with us
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