{"id":3105,"date":"2014-09-17T14:18:49","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T18:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.northwoodscenter.org\/wordpress\/?p=3105"},"modified":"2016-12-13T19:12:02","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T00:12:02","slug":"favorite-summer-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northwoodscenter.org\/wordpress\/favorite-summer-spots\/","title":{"rendered":"Favorite Summer Spots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every summer camper has a favorite spot around the NorthWoods campus. We have yet to take an\u00a0official survey, but I would guess our Pond would be the highlight. It is spring-fed, and at 18 feet deep in\u00a0the center, it offers a surprisingly cold, refreshing dip for kids who would rather spend all summer adrift\u00a0than on land. And of course, there is the Pond\u2019s Edge, home to tadpoles, frogs, crayfish, caddisflies,\u00a0water boatmen, and a host of other macroinvertebrates in various stages of metamorphosis. We\u00a0introduce these in a formal pond study at the start of the camp week, but the course doesn\u2019t end there.\u00a0With a net in hand, campers run to this favorite spot every chance they get.<\/p>\n

The\"snake1\"re are spots in the\u00a0woods that are favorites, too: the lean-to that opens to the red pines, a place where the wind always\u00a0seems to be at work. There is a magical forest where gnome homes and fairy houses are constructed, a\u00a0place carpeted in moss that is a land of emerald enchantment. And, of course there are a few campers\u00a0who might pick their favorite spot as close to the NorthWoods kitchen as they can get, where Sunshine\u00a0is cooking up a delicious afternoon treat.<\/p>\n

But between the lodge and pond, there is another favorite\u00a0spot, drawing a certain kind of camper, one with a penchant for the slithery, the sly, and the stealthy.\u00a0Among the perennial flower gardens, this south-facing hillside spot is made up of stone wall, rock ledge,\u00a0and the gaps in between. On sunny summer days, you don\u2019t have to imagine a snake basking here on\u00a0the warm rocks, because if you approach quietly enough, you can see one for yourself. These rocks\u00a0make a home for Vermont\u2019s two most common snake species \u2013 the Common Garter Snake and the Red-Bellied Snake, neither of which are poisonous, both of which will bite depending on the skills of the\u00a0handler.<\/p>\n

While so many things, in nature and in the world, are roped off, off-limits, and behind caution\u00a0signs, we had a great summer enabling kids to get up close and personal with some of our lesser known\u00a0wild residents. The world of reptiles and amphibians is fascinating, and touching the skin of a live snake\u00a0makes a much more powerful connection to this world than feeling one that\u2019s been flattened on the\u00a0roadside. For some campers, like Atrell pictured above, it is clear that they have encountered snakes\u00a0many times before. These campers must have favorite spots like this one in their backyards, and they\u00a0take on a new role here, instructing others with a more tentative grasp not to be afraid and how to hold\u00a0a snake safely. This summer especially, these rocks were a favorite spot, and it drew young\u00a0herpetologists who scattered along the wall, pleasantly surprising our staff with their on-going patient\u00a0and skillful quest. With the warmth in the day dwindling as fall nears, these snakes will adapt to their\u00a0changing environment. Their metabolism will slow, and they enter brumation, the reptilian equivalent of\u00a0hibernation in mammals. It will be a cold and quiet winter in the rock wall.<\/p>\n

For those who would like to become involved in conservation efforts or collecting and reporting data\u00a0on Vermont\u2019s 11 snake species we found The Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas<\/a> to be a great online\u00a0resource.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every summer camper has a favorite spot around the NorthWoods campus. We have yet to take an\u00a0official survey, but I would guess our Pond would be the highlight. It is spring-fed, and at 18 feet deep in\u00a0the center, it offers a surprisingly cold, refreshing dip for kids who would rather spend all summer adrift\u00a0than on land. And of course, there is the Pond\u2019s Edge, home to tadpoles, frogs, crayfish, caddisflies,\u00a0water boatmen, and a host of other macroinvertebrates in various stages of metamorphosis. We\u00a0introduce these in a formal pond study at the [Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,226,12],"tags":[1038,744,742,1081,745,743,741],"class_list":["post-3105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-front-page","category-news","tag-camps","tag-garter-snake","tag-herpetology","tag-kids","tag-red-bellied-snake","tag-reptiles","tag-snake"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFavorite Summer Spots | NorthWoods Stewardship Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.northwoodscenter.org\/wordpress\/favorite-summer-spots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Favorite Summer Spots | NorthWoods Stewardship Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every summer camper has a favorite spot around the NorthWoods campus. We have yet to take an\u00a0official survey, but I would guess our Pond would be the highlight. It is spring-fed, and at 18 feet deep in\u00a0the center, it offers a surprisingly cold, refreshing dip for kids who would rather spend all summer adrift\u00a0than on land. And of course, there is the Pond\u2019s Edge, home to tadpoles, frogs, crayfish, caddisflies,\u00a0water boatmen, and a host of other macroinvertebrates in various stages of metamorphosis. 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