Where the Wild Things Are

Boston Pond, Stephen A. Forbes State Park, Marion County, Illinois.

On Tuesday, May 3rd and Wednesday, May 4th, I served as a guide to about 380 fifth grade students from around the county, plus their teachers and a few accompanying parents.  The walk was listed as a Habitat Walk, in which the students would see multiple habitats.  The original walk dealt with three habitats, prairie, wetland pond, and forest.  But an excess of rain in the last few weeks made that trail far too wet for all but those equipped with good boots, so I was shifted to the Boston Pond area where we looked at forest and pond habitat.  I had conducted a partial species survey of the original Wetlands Trail and found about 30 - 35 species to pick from, but had not seen Boston Pond until 30 minutes before the first group showed up, so I took a quick walk over the 1/4 mile trail looking for a few topics to discuss.

At 9:20 AM on a cool, wet, Tuesday the first group arrived.  Over the next two days I would escort sixteen groups on a twenty minute walk around Boston Pond.  The group pictured was the first group on Wednesday, May 4th when the temperature was close to 40 degrees F!  Strangely, a few boys noted that it was cold!  I briefed each group on some simple safety items (don't touch 3 leaved small plants - Poison Ivy, or 5 leaved plants - Poison Oak; don't run, don't pick up sticks, be careful of wild blackberry - it has thorns, and watch your step - you might trip over a root and fall).  In the two days, only one person tripped over a root and fell - me!  And, oh, by the way, it had been raining and he pathway was quite muddy and wet.  I was my own best bad example!  Then off we all went.

The main habitat was forest.  We looked into the forest to see, in general, the kinds of trees it had - pine and broadleafed deciduous, which is good cover for the animals that live there; deer, fox, coyote, racoon, squirrel, skunk, and an assortment of birds and reptiles.  They all call it "home" because it had all the things they needed to live, which is as good a definition of habitat as there is, I suppose.  We looked at the shells of many walnuts in one place and talked about the importance to the animals of having a good food supply.  The learned the semi-technical term, "Mast," which literally means "a pile of nuts" and is used to define in general the presence of good food for the animals.

The kids all looked at the "lay of the land" and most figured out right away that the gullies were formed by flowing water and erosion.  The question I had posed was, "How did these gullies form?"  One girl, in a church school, said, "God put them there."  I told her the since this was not a science classroom quiz, I'd accept the answer, but would pose another for her, "Very good, but tell me, just how did he do that?"  That led to a nice discussion about water, etc. by her and all of her classmates.

We then walked across the earthen dam and looked at  what they called a "Honeysuckle Bush," that has the formal name "Amur Honeysuckle."  It is an example of an invasive species that is crowding out the native flora.  Among the most important native trees are Oaks and Hickories (producers of "hard" mast).  When the seed (nut) is dropped and germinates, the young plant is very shade intolerant.  With the honeysuckle (Amur and Japanese/Asian) and other invasive plants providing a strong shade cover, the young Oak or Hickory can't survive.  And so our native trees are beginning to disappear.  One parent on the tour told me that she "just loves" honeysuckle, but doesn't let it spread.  I didn't say anything, but the birds are carrying the seeds away without her knowledge, and spreading the plant anyway.  From such innocent and benign events come great tragedy in the natural world.

We looked at transplanted Bald Cypress growing in the water (it is actually native to far Southern Illinois, but with climate change will likely adapt here fairly well if it is given shelter from winter's harshest cold and winds).  There was a small stand of cattails, which gave me an opportunity to talk about the filtering qualities of many water grasses, like the cattail and the common reed.

Then we reached the end of our little quarter-mile hike.  Some kids asked good questions or had excellent observations to add to the group.  Some just had a day off from school, but that's ok, too.  They might have heard something that will stick with them.  My final pitch to them was that the park, all 1600 acres of it, is there for them and for their use.  Since they were all 12 years old, they could come to Boston Pond and try their hand at catching trout, bass, or catfish without even getting a fishing license - just bring an adult, with one, with you.  The park is a return of a little bit of land to a more natural state.  Come and enjoy it.

I also learned a couple of lessons myself:
    1.  Obey your own teachings - look for the roots before you stop talking and simply turn to walk away.
    2.  Fifth grade boys are drawn to primitive toilets like flies to a garbage heap (they must have the smallest bladders on the planet).  In one class, every single boy had to visit the "outhouse."
    3.  When in the company of 20 - 25 fifth graders, don't expect to actually see any real wildlfe.
    4.  They all understood the value of "catch and release."

I had fun.  I hope that most of them did, as well.  This way to the egress!

Note:  All photographs copyright Thomas A. Davis 2011.  Permission granted to download and/or use for personal non-commercial use only.