A Summer Night Hike: Taking the “Adventurous” Trail

Today’s post comes from Katie Woodhams, our Program Manager. On a Summer Night Hike here at Fenner, she rediscovered an awe of nature through observing wildlife and the circle of life firsthand. Read about her rich experience, and come to Fenner for our next Summer Night Hike on Friday (July 13), 8-10pm!

Whenever I tell people that I work at a nature center, their first reaction is always some sort of exclamation about how lucky I am to get paid to be outside and having fun.  While I do have fun at work, I have to tell you – it’s a rare occurrence for me to actually get outside!  While our camp counselors and naturalists are out blazing trails, I can usually be found at my desk, in a cubicle, staring at my computer like a zombie!  You probably can understand why I jumped at the chance to tag along for our first night hike of the summer!

As the sun sank lower in the sky giving the prairie grass that lovely golden glow, my fellow eco-explorers and I started off on our adventure with binoculars, field guides, camera, and smart phone in hand, loaded up with Audubon Field Guide Apps.  We had decided that the Visitor Center needed a monarch caterpillar mascot so our first stop was to go in search of one among the milkweed.  Just as we were about to give up, we found this cute little guy munching away!

Chemicals in the milkweed that are produced as a defense mechanism do not phase the monarch caterpillars.  Instead, the caterpillars accumulate these toxins in their bodies, which in turn help to protect them from predators.

After our new caterpillar friend, Heinrich, was safe in his new home inside the Visitor Center we headed back out to the prairie.  We came upon this fork in the trail and faced the age old dilemma about choosing the right path….Should we take that which is most traveled, or that which looks more adventurous?  

To the left, along the deer trail it is!

As we headed down the narrow path we discovered animal burrows and trails that we would not have seen had we taken the route more traveled.  At this point my excitement was rising and I had already forgotten all of the stress of the day.  

Just a few steps down the trail we found this entire tiny skeleton right at our feet!  We decided that it was some sort of rodent, based on the teeth.  Nearby we found what looked like a woodchuck burrow, so we inferred that this was a young woodchuck that had a little bit of bad luck.  A few steps later we came across a dead mole and spent many minutes inspecting the insect life that was “recycling” the little guy.  Hey, I know it’s gross, but we were so enthralled by the circle of life happening right before our eyes!   In nature, nothing is wasted, and we felt privileged to observe this first hand.

As the sun dipped below the tree line we headed over to the field pond.  I had heard that there was a family of wood ducks out there and wanted to see them firsthand.  Even though we snuck out onto the bridge as quietly as possible, we didn’t see any wood ducks (darn!). Instead however, we saw two mother turkeys and about 20 babies, called poults. They were getting ready for bed and picking out their roosts along the railing of the pond overlook.  I took a video as I tried to sneak up on them, but I decided to spare everyone all the heavy breathing and shaky camera work….instead, look at this cute picture below!  Mind you, they don’t look like this for very long.  Soon they will have filled their cute quota and turn into lanky, awkward, and gangly juveniles (just like people!)

As we left the prairie and entered the darkening woods, we spotted a raptor nest of some sort at the top of a red pine.  Upon closer examination at the bottom of the tree we found owl pellets!  Owl pellets are balls of hair and bones that the owls regurgitate because they cannot digest those parts of their prey.  They are fun to pull apart and investigate, and they help biologists deduce all kinds of information about the owl’s health and even the types of other animals that are living in the area.

I decided at this point to whip out my fancy smart phone and play some owl calls to try to hear if there were any in the area.  We tried Screech-owls, Barred Owls, and even Great Horned Owls, but never got a response.  Maybe we were too early, and the owls weren’t ready to wake up for the night yet! Just as we were giving up hope, we saw a large bird fly overhead.  Could it be an owl?.... Nope!  It was a Cooper’s Hawk!  The hawk landed right above us, and as I played various calls of its kind on my phone, it looked around, puzzled.  We watched it in awe since none of us had ever been that close to a wild hawk before! 

Throughout the rest of the hike I continued to act like a kid in a candy store.  While I studied biology in college, and have had many memorable experiences with nature, I still get goose bumps when I get a close encounter with a wild animal, or even if I find a pretty flower that I have not seen before. Experiences like this night hike remind me of why I went into this field, and why I believe that it is so important for everyone, especially kids, to have these same types of experiences.  In a time where one can look up a video on Youtube or watch a T.V show about nature and see high definition close-up imagery, I am still convinced that these firsthand experiences are much more memorable, as well as meaningful. There’s just something about making a discovery on your own that is so much more rewarding than having someone explain it to you on T.V.  I frequently reflect on what former Fenner naturalist Joan Brigham often stated, “Man is a part of nature, not apart from it.” Whenever I think of that statement I feel alive, complete, and ready for my next nature adventure!