What We Did Today:1. Time to go back to work. This week's studies will take place near Cook's Lake, which is about 30 miles into the interior part (remember, we're staying on the south shore).a. Notice this picture of a swamp. Actually.... not a swamp. This water pond was man-made about 20 years ago, along with many others around the interior of Nova Scotia. The interior has only 2 meters (7 feet) of topsoil. (Nova Scotia basically one big rock with a bit of dirt covering it) Right now in the spring, the snow melts & then it rains. There is water everywhere. During July and August, however, when it doesn't rain much, this area gets VERY dry - there's not enough moisture in the 7 feet of topsoil holding all the tree roots together to keep fire hazards low. The government implemented "fire holes" which are water ponds every 2 km along roads to allow a water source should a forest fire break out. This fire hole was at one time a lot wider, but now has been growing over with vegetation. Fire holes are still used and valuable parts of the wilderness.b. We set up traps again today to catch the elusive small mammal (voles & mice). One difference today is that instead of all 100 traps in the woods, we're putting 50 on the edge of the woodline and 50 in a grassy area next to the woods.First we had to prepare the traps. We set up the traps very similar to the traps in East Port Medway, only difference is that we stuffed them with the pasture grass on the field (rather than hay). We then set up traps along a 10 meter grid. All groups A - E, were spread out evenly at the edge of the woods. We all walked in and placed our A traps every 10 meters so as to have a 50 traps, all 10 meters apart from each other.Then went to the field area and placed the other 50 traps (B traps) every 10 meters also. One odd thing is that we left the doors to the traps in the field closed for today. Since we aren't back until morning to check these traps, we run the chance of catching a shrew or another species of vole that would die if left in the traps too long. We'll open the doors tomorrow morning to catch during the day.
Notice how we mark the field. Just like in the woods, we mark each trap with tape that has the trap # on it, otherwise we'd never find it amongst the grass. We 'ponytailed' the grass with orange flag ribbon to find it easier.c. Neat thing about Cook's Lake: It was an old homestead. This area has some cool history to it. It happens to now be owned by Dr. Buesching's family, but for the previous 150 years before they owned it, it belonged to the Koch Family (now Cook). Nova Scotia still has a definite european influence to it - and you can notice it from the house styles to the old rock walls that define land boundaries. The field area we study was the old pasture land from the homestead. An old orchard, with now dead apple trees :( , is now the perfect place for our "camp" and our lunch site.
**In case you're wondering how well we eat while we're here..... Here's the ice cream tower at the table every night. I think I've eaten more ice cream in the last 2 weeks than I've eaten in the last year.....
What We'll Do Tomorrow:1. Check our traps! I'm curious to see what we get in the field vs in the woods!2. Deer and hare pellet counts. So that means more crawling in the woods picking up poop - oh, boy.... hope I find another record-breaking snake again....For YOU......1. In reference to the fire holes: Besides being a great water source, what other positive thing did it provide - without really intending to?2. If you didn't know the Cook's lake area was an old homestead site, what information could give you a big clue that there was probably a house(s) in this area before?Sunday's Picks: 1. Research the Titanic. What safety features are now in place (because of this shipwreck) that would have deterred the Titanic from sinking/allowed for more survivors?Many safety regulations have changed as a direct result of this accident. Several are: enough life boats for ALL bodies on board, rules regulating when ships can go "off-line" or without radio contact, and it also instigated the advancement of technology to detect icebergs.2. How does a Hemlock look different than other pine trees?Hemlock are gorgeous old pine trees that have been almost logged to extinction. Here's an excerpt from the New York Times:Tsuja canadensis, considered the redwoods of the East, range from Georgia to New Brunswick and west to Wisconsin. The tallest are 170 feet and the oldest 600+ years old. And according to the New Yorker, they create whole ecosystems.
Hemlocks create deep shade and cover the ground with beds of needles, altering the temperature, moisture, and chemistry of the soil around them, and creating a distinctive hab
itat for certain animals and plants. Some ecologists believe these coves contain - or, until recently, contained - the last examples of primeval rain forest in eastern North America. Only small fragments of old-growth forests remain in the East.
Fabulous Day today! 50 & Sunny!See you Soon!KVWH
