KINGSTON TWP. — Area youngsters made their way to the water’s edge of a pond at Frances Slocum State Park June 16, using dipping nets to learn about creatures living there.
Environmental education specialist Kathy Kelchner led half a dozen children through a wooded area with much to see and much to learn.
Each family was given its own net and encouraged to place it in the water carefully, but “not too deep, so that you won’t get mud.”
Jason and Nicole Beech and their three girls Ryanne, 6, Hayden, 4, and Charlotte, 2, who were camping at the park, enjoyed time together and an opportunity for learning.
Hayden and Ryanne stayed close to their father’s side, finding a tiny catfish, crayfish, snails, baby dragon flies and a water beetle.
As they placed the creatures into a container with a bit of water on the bottom, they took time to observe how each moved and how they interacted with each other.
“I think it’s the tiniest catfish ever,” Jason said of his catch.
Kevin Walsh and his daughter, Molly, 4, were equally as brave and inquisitive as they leaned into the pond to view aquatic wildlife.
When Molly caught a newt, the group was especially excited.
“This is the first time we’ve caught one of those in a long time,” Kelchner told the group.
The pond to seemed to be filled with aquatic creatures, something which Kelchner said was a good sign.
“If we weren’t finding anything or if we were only finding one thing, that would mean that the pond might be polluted,” she said. “But this pond is a healthy environment.”
In addition to the wildlife found at the pond’s edge, Kelchner also pointed a “basking platform” on which frogs rested as temperatures rose.
“One time, I counted over 30 frogs there,” she said.
Kelchner said the frogs made their way to the platform for two reason: to get warm and to make their bodies uncomfortable spots for parasites.
She took time to examine a green frog with participants — the way to tell their gender and how to confirm that they were, in fact, green frogs.
“Green frogs don’t refer to a color,” she said. “They’re a type of frog.”
At the end of the activity, each creature was carefully returned to the water, with Kelchner lauding the hard work and patience that made the event a success.
