Classroom visitor

I found a little hog nose snake in a pool skimmer the other day. These are great little snakes. What an opportunity.

I took the little guy into school and tried to impress upon them the importance of being aware of their surroundings. They need to know their snakes, and don't kill them.

Hog nose snakes are "mimics". They pretend to be vicious, venomous snakes and around her, most people believe them. They are often mistaken for cottonmouth water Moccasins. It is really too bad, cause they are great little snakes.

We showed him to the kids, handled him - taught them about mimics, then let him go.

Does the Heart Good

I AM SO SICK OF RAIN.


Over the weekend we started with snow - which is real exciting here, but before the day really began - it all turned to snow. It rained all the rest of the weekend. I was able to get the camera trap set back up again, in a new spot, but all other outdoor work came to a halt.

the kids had friends over. The hawks stayed in their weathering area. I wanted to hawk in the snow - but it was not to be.

I wanted to hawk on Monday. But no.

Today - rain

The kids had friends over this weekend, and while it was cold the rain was somewhat intermittent - they decided to spend as much time as they could outdoors.

Remember when we were kids and we left the house in the morning - then didn't get home until the next feeding time.

Instead of my boys and their friends playing video games all morning, that's what the kids did. They left early and played in the woods until it was feeding time. It made me proud.

They spent most of the time looking through the woods for animal sign.

I don't know exactly where they went.

I found the evidence later. Trail cam pictures.

Summertime

One of these guys is mine. I love the picture.

Are we Normal?

I like to consider my family "normal". Yes, we have our idiosyncrasies (I mean, I have them), but we lead fairly normal lives.

I have three kids, and a wife of seventeen years. We spend time together, both inside and outside. My kids help with my animals - chickens, rabbits, pigeons, dogs, cat -etc. and the kids have their own little pets. They've had parakeets, rabbits, gerbils.

In the spring and summer we walk with our kids in the evening. Sometimes the kids ride bikes, and we walk, or the kids play in the golf course pond, then catch up, and play in a tree, then catch up, etc.

The kids love to throw rocks.

But we spend time walking together.


I camp with the kids a few times in the summer and they sometimes hunt with me and the birds in the winter. Both boys are in scouts. and as you know, we spent a lot of time taking casual hikes over Easter break. The kids do well in school, and we spend time every evening dealing with homework issues.

Here they are when we went hunting with Patrick.

But just recently at school, the students went on a field trip to a local ecological preserve that covers a large portion of the Outer Banks. I've blogged about Nags Head Woods before as it was a favorite place for me to take the hawks this season.


These students didn't even know the woods were there. I was astounded. By the end of the day, we had walked about four miles studying the different ecosystems whithin the large maritime forest.

The students were exhausted. They'd never walked that far, let alone had to go up and down hills. They had never sat silently and listened to the birds or the wind in the trees. They didn't know to look under logs for salamanders, or how to identify even deer tracks.

We did the best we could to show them everything. Hopefully, they learned that the woods can be better than the video game. We didn't see much wildlife (you never do when you bring 85 loud children into the woods), but they learned a lot about ecosystems.

But all you parents, I beg you, take your kids outside. Teach them about the woods and fields around your house. Lacking that, try the vacent lot down the street. You would be amazed at what you can find there.

Just yesterday, we counted turtles spotted in a drainage ditch. We lost count around 200. Go find a ground hog hole, or fox hole.

See if you can wait silently, for something to appear.


Get out of the car and walk, or bike. Stop and smell the roses.