Wednesday 4-23-08

Hi guys!

I have some information for you guys. We had a lecture tonight on the history of Nova Scotia--starting with 4.7 billion years ago. I thought of you guys because we talked a little big about the rock cycle. I hate that I missed that unit but I know you got through it alright without me.
With me here, you're sort of learning two things at once! Bonus!!!!

Last night it rained lightly. That meant that the ground was damp this morning when we went out to check our traps. When we check our traps, we walk up to each trap and check to see if the door has shut. If it is shut, we collect the trap (pick it up) and carry it back to the meeting area. If the door is open, we leave it.
Since we check the traps twice a day, sometimes animals go in the trap during the day and sometimes they go in at night. If they go in after we have checked them in the afternoon, they have to stay quite a while. You'll have to read my comment about it in one of the posts. I did answer that question with more detail.
The animals actually go in the trap because they are curious. As you've noticed, some may not have very good short term memories because we recapture them. They also may also be desperately hungry for our food.

After we checked our traps, we went and did some map coordinates. You have learned longitude and latitude in Social Studies. We used a GPS device to tell us the coordinates so we could make a map of the area we're studying. We had to be very specific about where we were--writing detailed notes about what the area looked like. Think about describing the bus circle parking lot. If you have to tell about each parking space you could easily run out of new words to describe them!!!

We cleared more trails today. This means that we were on a piece of heavily wooded land and we were clearing a path so that there was nothing. My question for you is...
if we are clearing land (including chopping down some--but not many--trees), how can this benefit the environment and our goal? Before you answer, I want you to remember what our goal is (why do you think we are trapping mammals and weighing them). Think about the uses of the trail and the possible benefits along with the possible disadvantages.
This one is tough so you will need to read each other's replies to help you. If you post something and then read someone else's reply and change your mind about your answer, it is ok to re-post.



We saw a beaver last night. Here is a video of it.

Here is a camera trap video.

I show you part of the field where I'm putting traps.