MCHT Field Trip Inspires Youth to Explore and Write
At MCHT’s recent vernal pool walk at the Witherle Woods Preserve in Castine, field trip participants learned all about the natural history and significance of vernal pools and the animals that depend on them. Then with nets in hand folks got to scoop and search the vernal pool waters for a hands-on experience/interaction with many aquatic critters taking advantage of this wonderful habitat (there were loads of spotted salamander eggs and wood frog tadpoles). The group also explored the surrounding woodland habitat and the discussed importance of downed logs as a habitat, turning many logs over in search for red-backed salamanders and any other critters they could find. 3rd grader Apple Lieser from the Adams School in Castine was so thrilled with her day that she took the time to share her experience in a wonderful note sent to MCHT regional Steward Kirk Gentalen (trip leader). Here’s Apple’s note in its entirety. Enjoy!
“And there we were at the vernal pool in the Witherle Woods in Castine on Sunday morning. Doug and Curt were our guides. Doug is a forester and steward from Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Curt is a Steward from Vinyl haven. We were joined by Lizzie (my grandmother), my great Aunt Brooke, and my Great uncle Gil and their dog Denali.
When we made our way into the woods, Doug and Curt showed us some yellow spotted Salamander eggs and wood frog tadpoles that they had collected that morning from the vernal pool.
The spotted salamander eggs were all in a big jelly-type mass with little eggs protected inside. Curt told us that the Spotted salamanders came to the vernal pools to lay their eggs around the first rainy days in April. I learned that vernal pools are great homes for salamander because the pools dry up after the eggs are hatched so fish can’t survive in there. If they could, the fish would eat the Salamanders.
The wood frog tadpoles that they had brought were tiny, smaller than my fingernail. They a tiny head and a short tail and when their tail was tucked underneath it’s little round body, I almost went right by it because it looked just like a clump of mud.
I learned that wood frogs, spotted salamanders and ferry shrimp are what make a vernal pool a vernal pool.
The fun began when Curt handed us some nets and said we could go ‘scooping’ in the vernal pools for animals. The first animal I caught in the vernal pool was a dragonfly larva. Dragon flies actually live a few years in the vernal pools as wingless dragonfly larva (they look like wingless overgrown crickets) eating mosquito larva and then when they are grown they come up and fly around and eat grown mosquitoes. Lizzie caught a mosquito and we should have put it in with the dragonflies but she squashed it between her fingers instead.
I also caught a lot of tadpoles and one water beetle. Water Beatles actually breathe air. They come up to the surface to breath and they get an air bubble, and then when they go diving under water, the air bubble goes onto their backs and when their air bubble runs out, they return to the surface again.
We then moved to a different spot in the vernal pool.
Since it had rained the night before, most of the salamander eggs were in the center of the pool. But there was one clump that the salamander parents had attached to a tree root in the water. I very carefully scooped them up in the net so as not to hurt them, and then I called Curt over to show him what I had found. He took a picture of them and Said that ‘that was a good find’ we put it in a bucket and curt said that I could keep them and watch them grow. I’m going to release them back to the vernal when they are strong enough to survive.
As we left the vernal pools and started our walk up the path, Curt said, “You can find red back salamander if you turn over damp logs that are lying on the ground, but always put the logs back because there might be other animals who use the logs as their home”.
After a while, I saw a very damp log lying on the ground and I slowly turned it over and guess what I saw?!
I saw what appeared to be two snakes with red backs. I picked both of them up and called Curt over. And he said they were actual red back salamanders! At that point I noticed their little legs under their bodies.
We returned the red back salamanders to their logs and that ended our adventure. It was one of the best times I have ever had in the Witherle Woods. I couldn’t have imagined anything I would have rather done on a Sunday afternoon.”
