Author: CREW Land & Water Trust

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Parents: Help Your Kids Get Their “Vitamin N”

3rd grader journaling at marsh

Vitamin N is another term for Nature. Time in nature can help reduce attention deficit, increase academic performance, and boost physical and mental health.

Richard Louv, author of the bestseller Last Child in the Woods, labeled the condition caused by Vitamin N deficiency when he wrote his seminal book. “The term Nature Deficit Disorder actually started out tongue-in-cheek, but it soon became apparent that the term—which is not a medical condition—finally put a face on the profound alienation that has occurred between children and nature over the last 30 years,” says Louv, co-founder and chairman emeritus of the Children & Nature Network. (source: Are Your Kids ‘Vitamin N’ Deficient? accessed at http://parade.condenast.com/222813/juliebawdendavis/are-your-kids-vitamin-n-deficient/)

CREW invites families with children ages 3 to 12 to come out to the CREW Marsh Trails on Saturday, November 1st for a morning walk. The walk includes simple activities that engage the senses and curiosity of children and help dispel fears of the outdoors.

Pre-registration is required and is open until October 28th, so register today at http://crewvitaminnwalk.eventbrite.com

 

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CREW Guided Walks Begin in November

Bird Rookery Swamp TrailIt’s been a long, hot summer, but the cool fronts are moving through and the rains are getting scarce, and that means it’s time for us to crank up our regular Guided Walks at the CREW Trails. Starting in November – and running through April – regular guided walks will be held at the CREW Marsh Trails (led by Dr. David Cooper) and at Bird Rookery Swamp (led by George Luther, Bob Melin,  Chrissy Podos, and Jack Shine). This year, we’re adding a third “regular” walk at the CREW Cypress Dome Trails (led by Dick Brewer). Guided walks include some history of CREW and interpretation of the natural world found at each site.

Each trail is unique and each walk leader has his/her own special talents and stories to share. Come on out for one or all three. These CREW walks are free, but pre-registration is highly recommended since they often fill up, and registered participants get first dibs on space.

CREW Marsh Trail Walks with Dr. David Cooper
1st and 3rd Tuesdays and 2nd Saturdays (November – April)
9:00 AM – noon
Get more info and register here: http://2015crewmarshwalks.eventbrite.com
Bird Rookery Swamp Trail Walks
with George Luther & Bob Melin
Wednesdays (9 – 11:30 AM) – November through April
1st Sundays (1:30 – 4 PM) – November through April
4th Saturdays (9 – 11:30 AM) – November through August
with Chrissy Podos
1st and 4th Thursdays (9 – 11:30 AM) – February and March
with Jack Shine
2nd and 3rd Thursdays (9 – 11:30 AM) – February and March
Get more info and register here for all BRS walks: https://crewbrs2015.eventbrite.com
CREW Cypress Dome Trail Walks with Dick Brewer
3rd Fridays (November – March)
9:00 AM – noon
Get more info and register here: http://2015crewcdtwalks.eventbrite.com
CREW Marsh boardwalk
CREW Marsh boardwalk

Happy Trails – see you out there!

 

 

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Wild File Q&A: Why don’t birds fall off their perches when they’re sleeping or napping?

by CREW Volunteer Naturalist, Dick Brewer

Q:      Why don’t birds fall of their perches when they’re sleeping or napping?

A:      From small wrens and warblers to large herons and egrets, birds have a seemingly uncanny ability to sleep in trees and other vegetation without ever falling off of their perches.  How do they do that?

It’s not magic. The bird’s toes lock around the branch automatically; no conscious action is needed by the bird whether awake or asleep. Tendons pass from the muscle at the back of the bird’s leg, down around the back of its ankle, and to the inside of its toes. When a bird settles its weight on a branch, the legs bend. That tightens the tendons so much that the toes are automatically pulled tight and clamped around the perch. All conscious or controllable actions are bypassed, so even when it’s asleep, the bird cannot possibly move from the perch.          When the bird straightens its legs, the tendons relax and the grip is released. That’s why a bird often seems to ‘spring’ off of its perch — it’s just unlocking its hold. Even if it’s resting on just one leg, the bird is locked onto its perch.

Barred Owl Perched by Dick Brewer
A Barred Owl naps, one leg tucked in and the other firmly locked around the branch. (Photo by Dick Brewer)
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CREW Strolling Science Seminar Series Resumes November 13th

Strolling Science Seminars 2013 - 2014On November 13th, 2014, the fourth year of CREW’s popular Strolling Science Seminar series for adults will launch with a much-requested repeat of “Mad Batters of CREW” – a science workshop about bats, led by Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Kathleen Smith.

This seminar will take place at Bird Rookery Swamp from 4:30 – 7:30 PM. Space is limited, so register early at https://crewbatsss2014.eventbrite.com .

The full Strolling Science Seminar series includes:

  • November 13, 2014 – Mad Batters of CREW (Bats) w/ Kathleen Smith
  • December 5, 2014 – Mosquitoes of the Marsh with Neil WIlkinson
  • January 9, 2015 – Fire & Water: Primal Forces Shaping CREW Wildlife Habitats with Jim Schortemeyer & Joe Bozzo
  • February 7, 2015 – The Gopher Tortoise: How Protecting One Species Actually Protests Hundreds with Dr.John Herman
  • March 10, 2015 – Birding with the Master with Dr. Bernie Master & Tiffany Thornhill

Each seminar includes hands-on activities and in-depth scholarly discussions about the science of the topics and their relationships to the CREW watershed and southwest Florida. Registration is open for all the strolling science seminars at http://crewtrust.eventbrite.com . CREW Strolling Science Seminars are for adults 18 years and older.

 

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Teachers & Parents: October is National “Go on a Field Trip” Month

October is National “Go on a Field Trip Month”, and there’s no better way for kids to learn science than outdoors in nature. Just look at all the new research that shows the benefits of getting kids outdoors to learn.

CREW Marsh Trail - Field Trip invite

So, grab your students, kids, friends, loved ones, and come to CREW to take a walk, explore the wetlands, find frogs and bugs, watch the fall migrating birds fly through and just enjoy the calming, healing world that is CREW!

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Sunflower Festival & Ding Darling Days in October

Sunflowers at Cypress Dome Trails
Sunflowers at Cypress Dome Trails

The CREW Trust will be participating in two public outreach events during the month of October – the Sunflower Festival at Pepper Ranch (near Lake Trafford in Immokalee) and Ding Darling Days Family Fun Day on Sanibel.

Come on out and enjoy the fun and festivities while supporting these great events. The Sunflower Festival will be held on Saturday October 4th from 10 AM – 3 PM at Pepper Ranch, one of Conservation Collier’s premiere properties. Come celebrate the blooming of the sunflowers and hi to our volunteers as they answer questions about CREW for the visitors to the festival.

On Sunday, October 19th, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge celebrates its annual Ding Darling Days Family Fun Day. CREW intern, Jessi Drummond and friends will be there to represent the CREW Trust and encourage folks to come out to the CREW Trails to hike and play. Both events will have activities for all ages and entrance to both events is FREE!

 

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Fall Wildflower Walk Scheduled for October 18th

Pine lily
Pine lily

On October 18th, Brenda Thomas – FGCU instructor and former EE Specialist for CREW – will be leading a fall wildflower walk at the CREW Trails. Fall blooms are special because they include such rarities as the endangered Pine Lily (also known as the Catesby’s Lily) and many grasses which seed out only during the autumn months. Come learn from an expert, enjoy a cooler fall day on the trails, and feel the magic of the seasons changing.

To register for the fall wildflower walk, go to http://crewfallflowers.eventbrite.com

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Video: Airboat Ride Through the CREW Marsh

Ever wonder what that 5,000-acre marsh that you can see from the overlook at the CREW Marsh trails looks like out in the middle? Take this virtual ride on an airboat through the Corkscrew Marsh, the headwaters to the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) and you will see.

This is where much of southwest Florida’s drinking water gets stored and cleaned by nature within the watershed and where wading birds nest, limpkins and snail kites forage, and alligators raise their young. Notice the patchwork of sawgrass, open water with water lilies, tree islands, and big beautiful sky! The CREW project team (land managers, biologists) recorded this ride in August of 2014. Video by Tiffany and Dan Thornhill.

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Sept. 24 – 30: Take a Child Outside Week

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in. – Rachel Carson

English: Rachel Carson, author of Silent Sprin...
English: Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring. Official photo as FWS employee. c. 1940. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Silent Spring author and biologist Rachel Carson understood the importance of every child having a caring adult take him/her by the hand and share the wonder of nature. For the first time in history, we have the majority of an entire generation of young adults who have NOT grown up outdoors playing in the woods and streams, catching fireflies in a jar, fishing and hunting, and watching the stars. This disconnect from nature is wreaking havoc in the form of obesity, disease, attention deficit disorders, and mental illness, not to mention growing a generation of citizens who do not appreciate or understand how nature provides resources and services that help humans exist on the planet and therefore do not know to vote and organize to protect it.

 

To help remedy this disconnect and get more children outdoors, the NC Museum of Natural Science and cooperating partners declared September 24 – 30 as National “Take a Child Outside Week”. The CREW Trust challenges its members and the public to take up the challenge and take a child outside this week – or anytime! You can pledge and record your activity on their website. And we encourage you to tell us about it here or post it to the CREW Facebook page.

 

Go on! Find your favorite kid. Take her outside. Play, walk, find bugs, go fish. Enjoy the moments. Build a sense of wonder. And create a better world.

 

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Wild File Q & A: How can snakes climb trees?

This month’s Q & A post by CREW volunteer naturalist Dick Brewer

 

Q: How can snakes climb up trees?

A: Snakes use “concertina locomotion” to climb trees – the act of gripping with some parts of the body while pulling or pushing with other parts of the body in the general direction of movement. Ripples of muscle travel along the snake’s length while the spaces in between
inch forward.

Concertina locomotion is very irregular and appears to be quite strenuous. So, it takes snakes much longer to climb a tree than they could move on the ground or in the water.

This push/pull motion is made possible by scales that are keeled, or ridged. Think of the keel on the bottom of a boat. Unlike smooth scales, keeled scales have raised ridges on the center of each scale which enables the snake to get a grip on rough surfaces, much like a tire with a good tread grips the road better than a bald tire.

Snakes cannot stick to smooth walls the way insects and lizards often do; the snake must have something for the keel to rest on in order to push up. So working in concert with the body  muscles, the keeled scales lodged in bark crevices help the snake push against the bark on the tree and inch upward. And yes, sometimes snakes do lose their grip and fall out of a tree.

All snakes either have smooth or keeled scales, and one way to distinguish is that smooth scales typically reflect light, making the color pattern of these snakes shiny, glossy, or iridescent, whereas keeled scales tend to make snakes appear dull and non-reflective because of the raised ridge. Because snakes climb with their bellies to the tree trunk, the scales on their undersides of some snakes may be keeled while the scales on the topside may not be.

snake climbing tree
The Yellow Rat Snake is the best tree climbing snake in Florida. (Photo by Dick Brewer)