Mornings at Fenner: A Flurry of Activity!

In today's post, Andrea (our Environmental Education intern) writes about her favorite time of day at Fenner: early in the morning! There's usually lots of activity at Fenner in the mornings - come check it out for yourself!

Fenner Nature Center is a place I love to be at any time of day. There is never a dull or boring moment. No matter the time of day, there is always something to see and do whether you’re simply going for a walk, participating in one of Fenner’s numerous programs, or volunteering. But if I had to pick my favorite time to be there, it would be, without question, early in the morning. This is when Fenner Nature Center is the most peaceful and the most alive.

A few times a week, I arrive at Fenner before the sun comes up. Even before I drive through the gate, I can tell that I’m entering a special place – a place where I no longer make the rules and, if I want to be rewarded, I must follow the rules of nature. As I drive down the road, the trees begin to form a canopy, engulfing me, and it becomes even darker. I stop here for a moment and take a look around. I must be patient – there is more to see here than I think at first. 

As my eyes begin to adjust, I notice a deer standing behind a tree. Her fawn is standing behind her, perfectly still. They know I’m here. As I look closer, I begin to see even more. There is a squirrel on the tree, scurrying down from its nest. Two turkeys begin to slowly meander across the road in front of my car. I begin to notice how loud the silence really is. Somewhere in the grasses, crickets are chirping. In the distance, I hear an owl hoot once more before retiring to its nest. The wind blows and I can feel the damp air on my face through the open car window. It smells like autumn and rain. To my left, leaves begin to rustle and I catch a glimpse of a groundhog waddling through the brush before he disappears. It’s beginning to get lighter out and I make my way down the road. I want to get out on the trails before the darkness disappears completely, because I know there is even more there waiting to be discovered.

We use our senses constantly every day. But when the majority of our time is spent behind a desk, behind the wheel of a car, and in front of a television, the dulling of our senses is inevitable. We stop seeing and hearing everything around us. But when we take a moment to stop, be still, and turn our brains off, our senses begin to awaken again. It’s amazing what nature is willing to show us if only we open our eyes and learn to see.

Animal photos by Sharkey Studios. 

One Hot Summer

Jessica Rizza writes about our hot summer this year in today's post, and how this affects the animals and plants at Fenner. Come out to Fenner to see for yourself!

It has been one hot summer this year; it’s the hottest year in U.S. history (so far) to be exact! There are many ways that we all deal with the heat. Some people spend their time at beaches and pools cooling off in the water, while others choose to stay indoors in the air conditioning. We, as humans, know how to beat the heat, but what about all the wildlife here at Fenner? The native plants and animals have had to devise their own plans to deal with this hot summer, just like we have.

For example, to deal with hot temperatures, deer will find a low shady area during the day to bed down in. There, it is cooler and there are no direct rays from the sun! A shaded area with a small pond or stream is preferred even more. If you want to spot some deer in the summer here at Fenner, go hiking out on the trails and keep an eye out for shaded moist places.

American toads and green frogs adopt the same strategy. To see frogs and toads in the pond behind the Visitor Center on a hot summer day, you might have to get a little dirtier than one would think. To stay cool, frogs and toads bask in the pond under fallen logs, overhanging trees, or dead branches. An area like this is one of their favorite places to keep cool. 

The native flora, however, isn’t so lucky. With the low precipitation that we’ve had here in Lansing there is only so much a plant can do to conserve its available water. A plant can’t get up and move to a shaded moist area like animals can, thus, a lot of plants around here have suffered losses due to the extreme dry heat we’ve had (especially the open grassy areas).

 
The moral of the story is to try to enjoy the heat and being outside because we’ll have a foot of snow again before we know it!

Taking a Hint from Nature: Try to Live Simple

Jen Ismirle writes about a recent deer sighting she had at Fenner and what it taught her about trying to live each day a little bit simpler. 

I love to see animals in the wild, and that includes any animals. I could sit for hours and watch squirrels living out their normal day-to-day romping, climbing, and foraging. It wasn’t until recently that I happened to think about why this is.

I was walking around the trails at Fenner hoping to see any animals at all, and I stopped a few times to watch chipmunks rustling through the plants, or birds singing in the trees. But then, this sauntered across the trail in front of me and to the other side:

I was beyond excited to actually see a deer in the wild that wasn’t dashing in front of my car! She was calm too, just glancing my way every so often as she swished her tail and chewed the food she found. As she meandered further from me to the point that I couldn’t see her anymore, I still didn’t want to continue walking the trail and hoped that I might catch another glimpse of this creature.

As I thought about it, I realized that in that moment, the stress of the day had evaporated from my mind. When I was watching the deer, I wasn’t thinking about the work I still needed to do or the errands I needed to run or anything else. I simply enjoyed watching this animal that had one focus at that time: finding food.

Perhaps we can take a hint from nature sometimes and not let stress weigh us down so much that we might not enjoy the world around us, or something as simple as a really scrumptious meal.