Bunny Expo

Scouting Mission: 295

Log Date: June 2018

Surprisingly, bunnies don’t like to be picked up, cuddled, or even petted.  That’s what you learn when you go to the “Bunny Expo” and talk with Joy, the “Bunny Whisperer”.

♥

This event is held on the first weekend of June because that’s when the cute little “Easter Bunnies” reach puberty, and start to get a little feisty.  It’s important to get baby bunnies fixed, especially boy bunnies, who become fierce, leap into the air, do a 180-degree twist, and spray everything inside your house.

♥

♥

The way to pat a bunny is to stroke it gently on the forehead, just between the ears.  The dominant bunny is the bunny lowest to the ground, so putting your hand under a bunny’s chin means YOU are the top bunny, and that’s an insult.  Stroking the bunny’s forehead between the ears makes that bunny feel like a Queen, so always stroke a bunny on the forehead if you want to be friends.

♥

♥

Rabbits are prey animals; they like to stay on the ground and they don’t like to be picked up.  These are domesticated animals, properly called “House Rabbits”, because they belong indoors, not outside in cages.  Behind cats and dogs, bunnies are the #3 animal dumped onto city streets, and lots of bunnies are dumped into city parks all over the country with the mistaken belief they can fend for themselves.  They can’t.

♥

♥

Saint Louis has the biggest bunny rescue organization in the nation, called “The Bunny House”, operated by the House Rabbit Society of Missouri, located in Fenton.  The Bunny House organizes “The Bunny Expo” at the Humane Society each year to encourage people to learn all about bunnies, and get young bunnies fixed. The Bunny Expo includes a spa, a vet visit, nail trimming, and an expo with photo booth and merchandise. There are lots of bunnies for adoption, which you get to stroke between the ears.

♥

♥

Once bunnies are fixed, they quickly learn to use the litter box. Bunnies can live a long time, up to twenty years, and they need a fairly large pen.  Owning a bunny is a significant relationship and a big responsibility, and the people at the Bunny Expo love their bunnies. Think twice before bringing a cute baby bunny home for Easter, and be sure to do your homework by visiting the Bunny Expo first. Or, just bring kids to The Bunny Expo for a bunny adventure, where they can learn all about how to pat the bunny.

♥

♥

Things you can do:

1. Visit the Bunny Expo in June at the Humane Society on Macklind.
2. Pat bunnies between the ears to make them feel like the King or Queen.
3. Help fund the Bunny House with a donation http://www.hrsmostl.org/
4. Share what you learn with family and friends

♥

End.

 

Wildlife Rescue

Trip #46
Trip Date: 2016-09-17 Saturday 3:30
Attendees: 7 adults + 8 kids
Message: Be Kind to Animals
Wildlife Rescue Center

A trip to the Wildlife Rescue Center, located near Castlewood Park, is fantastic, and Green Spiral Tours ventured forth on a Saturday afternoon in September.  The best time to visit the Wildlife Rescue Center is in June, when lots of “May Babies” are in residence.

The Wildlife Rescue Center cares for over 2,500 injured, sick or orphaned animals per year, and releases them with permission on private property.

Green Spiral has hosted a lot of scouting missions and field trips over the past seven years, and we don’t think we’ve ever seen a better nature program for kids.  Director Casey Philips, who led the tour, is especially skillful with kids.  We had warm-up exercises in the conference room, followed by a tour of the facility, some veterinary practice on stuffed animals, and a quick hike around the lake.

The WildLife Rescue Center is volunteer run, and volunteer funded; the place is surprisingly big, and it’s all very clean and orderly.  There’s an x-ray machine and a small operating room for treating fractures and emergencies.

If turtles get run over by cars, or whacked by a lawn mower; the Wildlife Rescue Center zip-ties their shells back together and nurtures them back to health.

If squirrels get orphaned or injured, they are put into hammocks, and hand-fed by volunteers.

We got to see a baby opossum who tried to scare us away with his tiny sharp teeth, and we also got to see a baby fox.

We took a nature walk around the small lake, (actually a bog), full of mallards, frogs, fish and duckweed.

There’s always a lot of magic, and some bit of mischief on each Green Spiral field trip. The magic was seeing the animals. The mischief showed up in the form of poison ivy, which we narrowly averted when we popped down to explore the creek.

Poison ivy is tricky, because it can look like a bush or a vine.  Look for jagged edges,  leaves of three (leave it be), and especially, look for an extra long stem on that middle leaf.

We took about 15 people, which was the perfect sized group, although the facility can handle up to 30 people.  The fee is about $50 fee for 10 participants; each additional participant is $5 per person. Because this is an animal hospital, folks need to be calm, and the age range is limited to Kindergarten and up. To get maximum benefit, definitely organize this as a small group tour; if you have a scout group or classroom, divide the group in half.

What you can do:

Visit the Wildlife Rescue Center with kids; you will be delighted and learn all sorts of things. Here’s the link to begin organizing a tour: Wildlife Rescue Center

Keep cats indoors. Cats kill and injure a great number of wild animals, notably songbirds.

Sign petitions to protect habitat and clean water.

Give generously to the Wildlife Rescue Center, as they are completely volunteer run, and they are doing such great work: http://www.iGive.com/WildlifeRescueCenter/?p=19992&jltest=1 #iGiveDoYou

 

Butterfly House

Take a walk on the wild side…

The  Butterfly House in Chesterfield

has basically two kinds of butterflies:

Tropical

and

Wild.

At Green Spiral, we tend to be most interested in the wild kind.

The Sense of Wonder

The best time to visit the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House

(at Faust Park in Chesterfield)

is in the winter, when it’s cold outside.

OR during the Morpho Madness Festival in March

or the Owls & Orchid Festival in October.

Wandering through the butterfly conservatory really does impart a sense of magic

that is difficult to duplicate in the virtual world.

I do.

However, for a summer tip, wander out the back doors,

where hardly anyone goes.

There’s a beautiful garden and a

wedding pavilion waiting for you there!

Off the beaten path…

And behind the wedding pavilion,

lies a secret nature path,

designed especially for children.

King Bee?

There are honey-comb climbers to conquer,

Touchy, smelly things to feel

And insect noises to hear and make.

Call of the Wild

In all honesty,

the Butterfly House invited Green Spiral

to partner for grant funding purposes,

which we are happy to do.

It’s nice to see institutions moving along with the research,

(and what mothers instinctively know),

that children really do learn through their senses.

However, it’s difficult for institutions to pull off really memorable experiences,

like catching frogs, swimming under the moonlight,

or mud pie fights with friends,

but the Butterfly House does a pretty good job.

Invite us to help design your next project;

 we’ll bring real families,

who will tell you what we really think.

Homework time!

And now it’s time for “Homework that Matters”:

• Test Yourself – Can you identify at least three native Missouri butterflies? Can the kids?
• Plant food – Are you planting food in your backyard not only for yourself, but for the birds and the bees and the butterflies as well? If not, do you know how to get started?
• Baby Monarchs – What do monarch caterpillars eat? Have you planted ten of those plants in your backyard yet? Are you aware that the monarch butterfly is teetering towards the brink of extinction faster than we can add it to the endangered species act?

 

Milkweed = Baby Food for Monarch Butterflies

RSVP – if you’ve done your homework, and have ideas for others, please post in the comment section below, to help encourage people along…

Compliments Artemis Beta

 

Seed Bombs

Seed Bombs are clay balls embedded with seeds,

in this case, milkweed for monarchs!

Milkweed = Baby Food for Monarch Butterflies

Artists, Activists and Kids love seed bombs,

and here’s how to make your own:

Step One:

Step One

Step Two:

Naughty or Nice?

Step Three:

Harvest milkweed seeds from a real

milkweed plant, OR, buy locally,

from,  Seed Geeks, who you can find

at the Tower Grove Market.

Seed Geeks

Mix the clay with water, and a few seeds,

until you get the consistency of cookie dough.

Play with mud

Step Four:

Mix into mud, adding more clay, water or seeds

as needed.  You can also add some compost from your garden.

Mix Well

Step Five:

Roll into balls, allow to dry, and harden (which may take a few days).

Bombs Away!

Then go bomb a vacant lot.

Next spring,

Milkweed and Monarchs show up!

And that’s how to make a Seed Bomb.

 

Chicken Ranch

After one of the coldest winters on record, Green Spiral families ventured forth on a warm day in April to visit the famous “Chicken Ranch” in Kirkwood.

Ranch Fresh Eggs!

The Chicken Ranch is simply the fun name that Bill and Joan Ruppert have given their backyard hobby and chicken house — the complex is big enough to hold 50 chickens, and includes a second story look-out post! It’s quite famous in chicken circles, and if you ask to be on Bill’s email list, you’ll get an informative email about chicken happenings about town from time to time.

Let’s go see the chickens!

It was super fun for the kids to feed the chickens, mingle with the chickens and even collect some eggs. After a mink came through a few years ago (yes a mink) and wantonly killed many of the chickens, the Rupperts are in the process of rebuilding the flock, now numbering about 23. They have all sorts of chickens including Americanas, Speckled Sussexes, Barred Rock Plymouths and Rhode Islands.  They also have a rooster, called Ike, who came with a hen called Tina. See if you can spy Ike, the fancy white rooster below:

So many chickens so little time

Fond childhood memories of rural chickens was a theme and the link between generations; who will keep backyard chickens in the future without fond childhood memories to draw upon?  Would a factory farm allow Green Spiral Families to tour their chickens?  How exactly to you check a chicken to see if it’s about to lay an egg in time for dinner?  These are the kinds of questions that rise up when you join an adventure learning group together.

checking the chickens

Many Green Spiral field trips involve something unexpected. Sadly, or not, there was no misadventure associated with this trip; only a pleasant outing on a warm spring day. The only surprise was that we got to buy fresh eggs at the end of our field trip!

Each a different color.

 

Of course, the real prize was getting to talk to Bill Ruppert in person.  As a purveyor of wholesale plants, he’s an expert in horticulture and a major player in the movement towards native landscaping; he’s recently worked on the Citygarden, Novus International, and the MICDS projects.  If you get a chance to hear him speak, I would recommend it. Here’s Bill, plus a few links:

Here’s Bill

About the Ruppert Chicken Ranch: http://www.nnpstl.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/home.showpage/pageID/7/index.htm

Best Plant Ideas: http://www.nnpstl.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.main/index.htm

Bill’s Speaking Calendar: http://www.nnpstl.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/calendar.main/index.htm

want more chickens!?

In the future, you can tour the “Chicken Ranch” by watching for it to be featured on the annual Sustainable Backyard Tour:

http://www.sustainablebackyardtour.com/grassrootsgreenstl.com/Tour.html

 

Eagle Days

Chain of Rocks Bridge

Okay, this was more of a scouting mission than a field trip, but here’s the scoop on eagle watching at the Chain of Rocks Bridge during the annual Eagle Days celebration:  basically, if you want to see eagles, wait until it’s really cold outside, cold enough to make the rivers freeze, so that the eagles are forced to small pockets of open water, in this case the chain of rocks in the water that parallels the bridge for easy viewing.  Bundle up, pack some hot chocolate in a thermos, bring your own high powered binoculars or spotting scope, come early in the morning and watch the eagles fish.

Where eagles dare to fish

If you want to enjoy Eagle Days, on the other hand, pick a nice warm January afternoon, consider it a pleasant walk in the sunshine, and enjoy the festivities.  You will see one or two eagles in the far distance, but the fun will be had at the re-enactment camp, at the live eagle tent, and with all the happy people enjoying a cheerful walk along the bridge.  Even if it is a relatively warm day, take care to bundle up, as the bridge is exposed, and the wind chill will get to your bones.  Remember, children have smaller body masses and get into thermal trouble very quickly.

Take a walk on the wild side

Eagle Days is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation, and happens around MLK weekend each year. It’s growing in popularity, so you can’t count on prime $5 parking.

Plan to be funneled into one of the free satellite parking lots, and instead of waiting for the shuttle bus, just start walking along the bike path because you will beat the shuttle bus which sometimes has a 40 minute wait.  It’s about a 20 minute walk, which is nothing for a stroller, but probably too far for a toddler or small child.

Walk, don’t ride

To get to the parking areas from Saint Louis, approach from 270 heading east to Illinois and get off at the last exit (Riverview Drive) before you go over the bridge into Illinois.  Turn right after you exit the highway, and the parking lot will quickly appear on your left, very visible and well marked.

Bring your own snacks, as the food offerings run along the lines of what I would call “carnival food”.  Restroom facilities are porta-potty style.

Funnel cakes for everyone!

The walk will be your major activity, punctuated by chances to peer into the spotting scopes set up by the rangers along the bridge.  One lone defunct firetruck served as a popular jungle gym, for obvious reasons.  Kids like to climb things.

Climbable Sculpture?

The Lewis and Clark re-enactment camps are always fun and interesting, but there is not much for kids to actually do, really, except look and learn. The giant eagle nest photo opportunity is nice, but even better, encourage kids to construct their own giant “eagle nests” in your own backyard upon return.  Obviously, for liability reasons, the MDC can’t have a bunch of kids running around with giant sticks, trying to build eagle nests.

Lewis? or Clark?

Scoping out the scoop

Missouri is one of the best spots in the country to view bald eagles, and the story of the returning bald eagle is a positive message that should be purposefully transmitted to future generations.

Recall that Rachel Carson, the “grandmother” of the environmental movement, first sent up the alarm about the dangers of DDT in her landmark book “Silent Spring” in 1962.

Along with hunting, DDT was responsible for decimating the eagle population, which put eagles on the endangered species list with only 3,000 nesting pairs left in the wild during the 1960/1970s.

Since then, due mostly to public pressure and awareness, eagle numbers have grown to over 10,000 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states, and our national symbol is no longer on the endangered species list.  It’s important to keep building awareness, and keep bringing kids out to see the eagles.

Success stories lend courage to the environmental movement, so share the eagle story freely, (along with closing the ozone hole), because painting a positive vision of the future is our primary responsibility as parents and teachers actively cultivating future stewards of the earth.

Teaching children to love and honor our wild creatures is a cultural value that must be directly taught by adults, (usually parents); the kids won’t get it by osmosis, or necessarily from school or friends.  Books, field trips and videos can help, but nothing beats a field trip or the chance to see a real live eagle up-close and personal.  Send me your photo of the live eagle in the interpretive tent and I’ll upload it here: _______

As a note, I’ve also had good luck watching eagles at Riverlands, or simply by driving along the Great River Road near Grafton, where you can see the spectacular free-fall dance of courtship that eagles do in the air.

In vain search of the courting dance, I found this cool video called “aerial ballet” that shows multitudes of eagles along the Mississippi River in Illinois if you don’t want to burn the carbon to get out near the river this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n8myR1uXf4

 

Stinger Honey

Here’s a magical field trip anyone can put together:  a visit to see Joy Stinger’s urban micro-farm in the shadows of the highrise buildings near downtown Clayton.

Joy is somewhat famous, and widely known among urban chicken circles in Saint Louis.  In her backyard she has 20-30 chickens, nine beehives, a gazebo of songbirds, an upstairs greenhouse, a koi pond as big as a swimming pool, and two rambunctious Portuguese Waterdogs.  Downstairs, she has a workshop for processing honey and making specialty beeswax candles which she sells at farmer’s markets and local shops around town like Schnaars Hardware and Winslows Home.  You can find Joy at the Clayton Farmer’s Market every other Saturday.

You can see by the photo above that much is written about Joy by major publications; here is a particularly nice posting by local blogger “Recycled Goodness” that includes some very beautiful photos of the downstairs workshop:

http://goodnessrecycled.blogspot.com/2011/02/joy-stinger-beeswax.html

Something interesting always happens on every Green Spiral field trip, and the weather always plays tricks on us; it’s part of the Green Spiral formula about teaching children the power of resiliency by enduring hardship, boredom, and the weather.  In this case, the temperature dropped 30 degrees overnight, and tons of people turned out unexpectedly, making people have to wait their turn to see the chickens, the songbirds, or whatever.

Those who hung around in the workshop got a treat in the end; Joy took us on a tour of her house to see the indoor fishpond, the cookie molds in the kitchen, the exotic kites hanging in the living room, the handmade quilts in the bedroom and the art studio on the third floor.  Joy has had multiple careers of creativity, including that as graphic designer, furniture maker, painter and quilter.  Here are some of her many beautiful quilts, hanging on the stair railing, just above her indoor aquarium:

Joy is happy to host tours, in exchange for selling honey.  When you go, take about 12 – 16 people, (not over 40 as we did), and ask for a honey tasting lesson in the basement; you’ll get to taste three kinds of honey.  Spring honey is the lightest color, as the bees are limited to mostly clover in the spring.  Summer honey is darker in color, as the bees have more food choices, and fall honey is the darkest honey, as the bees diet changes once again and sugars become more concentrated as the days become shorter.  In the workshop, Joy will also show how honey comb is harvested, how honey is processed and how to make candles from beeswax.

 

You can find Joy Stinger and chat with her at Farmer’s Markets and other festivals about town, or buy her honey and look at the label which includes her address and phone number.  Call her up, but don’t bother looking for her email, as Joy doesn’t do email.  When you see her backyard and workshop, you might wonder: who has time for email anyway?

 

Speaking of email: the Green Spiral Field Trips are announced by email, and debriefs are posted on this WordPress blog.  If you sign up for this blog, it doesn’t mean you are on the field trip list, and vice-a-versa.  Send me (Jessie) an email if you want to be on the field trip list, and sign up through WordPress if you want to follow the Green Spiral debriefs, which are posted about once a month, after every field trip.  The debriefs are nice if you are looking for your own ideas for field trips.  The email to get on the field trip announcement list is: GreenSpiralTours@gmail.com

 

Arrowheads and Crawdads

 

Sunday September 2, 2012 – Forest Park

Inspired by a real arrowhead hunt earlier in the summer, about four families came out for a crawdad and arrowhead hunt designed specifically for younger children in Forest Park.  The “River des Peres” was diverted shortly after the World’s Fair in 1904, and now runs beneath Forest Park; it runs south and empties out into the Mississippi River, and, like many of our rivers, currently functions as a combined storm water and sewage drain.

The “river” that now flows through Forest Park as part of the restoration effort is basically tap water from the city water supply, making it suitable for exploration by small children.  Swimming in Forest Park is prohibited for obvious reasons, but wading into the water is a bit of a question mark; I think most forest rangers would agree with the Green Spiral philosophy that we need to find a ways to let children touch a river before they grow up.

The River des Peres, from our rich french heritage meaning “River of the Fathers”, is a particularly fitting setting for this type of adventure, as Dads are especially good at catching crawdad after crawdad.  If you’ve read “Last Child in the Woods” you know that without frequent outdoor experiences, children are likely to grow up to be fearful of nature. Adults light up when provoked by memories of catching crawdads, but it’s hard to find many kids at all who are comfortable picking up, much less catching crawdads these days.   On our field trip, we made crawdad catchers from paper clips, plus we caught crawdads by hand, putting them into a bucket for closer observation.

One five-year-old, Clara, fearlessly plunged her hand into the bucket and pulled out a squirming crawdad.  Surprised, I asked her mother how she knew to do that, and the answer came back describing how the fishermen in Scotland taught little Clara to do it with lobsters!  Green Spiral families are adventurous people, and I am always pleasantly surprised to see them show up with things like river gear, hats, buckets and nets.

Later, we hid arrowheads, like easter eggs, to include two other families that showed up.  The arrowheads were not easy to find, yet the kids were persistent in their hunting until they were greeted with success. Along with developing a host of abilities, such as visual discrimination skills, real-life outdoor experiences are an easy way to stretch a child’s ability to persevere through difficult circumstances.  Green Spiral families tend understand the importance of developing persistence and resilience in children, and there’s no better classroom for that than the great outdoors.

What you can do:  Go crawdad catching with kids and friends! You can read how to make a simple crawdad catcher out of paper clips and string in earlier posts.  Find a centrally located clean stream suitable for small children and share it under the “comments” section for future Green Spiral field trips.  Locate restaurants that serve crayfish on the menu and ask them where their food comes from.  Champion the many organizations who are working hard to restore our waterways to good health.

 

Kids and Crawdads

A river runs through it…

Patch.com Post – August 2012

Family reunions call for equitable activities, meaning free activities, and nature is able to answer that call.  My mother called a family reunion, so we ventured down to the river, all 22 of us, plus a dog, in search of arrowheads and other treasures.  We had very young children and princesses in tow, along with several kids who don’t like to unplug for long.

*

There was a moment of trepidation at the river’s edge, and then, in one glorious movement, everyone entered the shallow river, skipping rocks, flipping shells, happily exploring the river and it’s many wonders.  Nature is the great equalizer and the great individualizer: we each found something unique, and completely compelling to do, to the point of ignoring the first pouring rain in a 90-day drought.

*

Watch the way children play outdoors very carefully, it’s easier to discern their learning modalities outdoors than it is indoors.  For example, if they are visual learners, they will be the first kids to spy the fish bones, or arrowheads.  If they are auditory learners, they will be the first to hear the airplane overhead.

*

When visiting a river with extended family, always bring paperclips with you, for with paperclips, you can make “crawdad catchers’ and keep everyone entertained for hours. To make a “crawdad catcher” simply unfold a paperclip into the shape of a fishhook, tie a piece string to it, and fix a bit of meat to it.  Teenagers and toddlers alike can safely “fish” for crawdads, who pinch the meat with their claws and won’t let go, even when you lift them out of the water to watch their spiny legs claw frantically at thin air.

*

The proper name for crawdad is crayfish, and surprisingly, Missouri is a biodiversity hotspot for them, largely due to our rivers, which are among the biggest and most beautiful spring-fed rivers in the world.  Sadly, our rivers are under siege, from many point sources, including monster vehicles with enormous wheels, that crush delicate creatures in their wake.

*

Who will speak for the truffulla trees and crawling things, if no one takes kids crawdad fishing?

If not you, then who?

*

What you can do:

Take your kids “crawdad fishing” – and remember to bring your paper clips.  Splash photos all over social media.

Start a family nature club – and bring all your friends crawdad fishing.  Make sure they bring their cameras.

Find restaurants that serve crayfish and ask where the crayfish come from.

Join any number of worthy organizations, like Missouri Stream Team, and help clean up our rivers.

 

Arrowheads and Kids

Sunday, 10 June 2012 –

The rivers are low due to the historic drought,

and that makes this an especially good time to take

kids on an arrowhead hunt.  As they say,

“Even if there’s no rain cloud, you might find a silver lining!”

*

Long before the fur trappers arrived, Saint Louis

was home to a great succession of peoples, and

arrowheads can still be found if you know where

to look.   We went to a known site in a surprisingly

urban location which we promised to keep secret.

(Psst: it’s somewhere along Lindberg)

*

Of course hunting in a secret location and

the promise of finding hidden treasure are the only two

things kids need to have a good time, besides water,

so you can go “arrowhead hunting” anytime you like.

*

If you really want to find an arrowhead, you have to wake up

before the professional arrowhead hunters do,

before dawn, right after a big “gully washer” rainstorm.

Good luck with that, weary parents!

*

It was pretty polluted and noisy up top, but down below

in the creek,  there were crayfish, cardinals

and water striders to be found.

It was surprisingly peaceful and quiet.

Good thing sound rises.

*

Sadly, but not surprisingly, we found no arrowheads.

It turns out our rivers and our children

are the real treasure anyway.

Well, duh!

No surprise there!

Time we should start acting like it!

*

What you can do: 

Take your kids on an arrowhead hunt.

Even if you don’t find any arrowheads the

sense of adventure will stick with them forever.

Just be sure to wash hands when you come

back up top.

Tell your friends: that we have the biggest

and most beautiful spring fed rivers in the world,

here in Missouri, and be proud of that fact.

Join any number of groups and do what

you can to help educate others and heal

our rivers.