Reptiles, Amphibians and Insects, oh my!

"The Earth is moving faster than it ever has in the last 50 years, scientists have discovered, and experts believe that 2021 is going to be the shortest year in decades." This quote popped up as I was searching for information about the human construct of time.

"Aha!" I thought. "That's why this year is speeding by and perhaps why so much time has slipped by since I last posted!" Nope, not so fast. Perusal of the full BBC article will show that although Earth is spinning faster than it has in the past, the result is only a 0.05 millisecond difference in a day's length. (See the full article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/55643600) The change in time is nothing that anyone would notice -- and certainly no excuse for me not updating my blog sooner!

So where have I been? I've been communing with nature, spending my time with some influential new friends. Starting in June, I worked as the Assistant Director of Camp Foxfire, a nature camp for Pre-K through 8th grade kids at Northwest Park in Windsor, Connecticut. Aside from the well-known fact that summer camp is fun, I actually learned a great deal while spending my days in the great outdoors.

This was an educational camp, so we had curricula chock full of grade-specific lessons meant to meet common-core standards while entertaining kids who don't want to feel like they're in school. Of course we spent time hiking the twelve miles of trails in the park and I actually got myself a real pair of hiking boots, a shoe purchase I could genuinely justify! One of our daily goals was to send home a bunch of tired, dirty kids at the end of the day. If they could remember a smidge of what we taught, even better.

I knew this was going to be hard work and that I too would go home tired and dirty every day, but I thought, it'll be great to be outside, and jumped in with gusto. What I didn't expect was to gain amazing insight into nature. Animals I never before connected to became friends and sparked so many ideas for new writing projects. The park has a Nature Center with resident animals who were rescued from Wildlife Rehabilitation organizations or Animal Control and Municipal Wildlife Agencies. Every day I strode across the main floor, with its turtle habitat, freshwater aquarium and tree frog exhibit. "Good morning, fishies," I said as I passed the tank. Miranda, the suckerfish, continued her pass of whichever glass surface she was working. The rest of the school followed my passage with interest, hoping I'd drop snacks in the tank, although I never disobeyed the "Please don't feed the fish" sign on the front.

"Good morning turtles," I sang as I stopped at the turtle habitat to count the three aquatic turtles, making sure all were present. After the first couple weeks, the two largest would rise to the surface and poke their noses out of the water, maybe hoping for a morsel of something yummy, maybe just returning my salutation. "Hello Georgina, hello Prince," I'd greet the two box turtles as well, both often lounging on the wooded surface beyond the water. Occasionally, Prince, the smaller of the two, was hiding and I worried that he had either escaped or fallen into the water. (The box turtles are both adventurous, but neither is particularly coordinated and on two occasions Prince fell into the water and needed rescuing.)

During my morning greeting, if I couldn't see him, I called his name. "Prince, where are you?" Invariably, he would stick his head out of a hollow log that was just long enough to hide him completely from view. I had no idea reptiles could be so interactive.

Not only did they respond to my voice every day, they seemed to know their names -- or maybe they just reacted to my insistent call. What surprised me was that their reaction was not out of hope for a snack. I never fed them. They did not learn to answer to me because of a food reward, but rather, simply for attention. I greeted them every day and every day they came out to see me. The picture above shows Prince on the left and Georgina behind him, both with necks stretched up to observe my arrival.

The final dwelling before the time clock where I punched in every morning was a tank with lush pothos vines climbing dried branches placed artfully across the glass to allow the two resident Australian tree frogs any number of places to hang by their sticky toes. "Hi, froggies!" I said every day. If they were awake, Gretchen and Grover would regard me with their big eyes and permanently smiley faces, so like a cartoon, it never ceased to elicit a happy expression of my own. What a great way to start the day! Grover, pictured here sitting on a sheet during a program for the children, shows off his cheerful countenance.

These unexpected ambassadors taught me more than I ever expected this summer. I developed a new appreciation for all creatures, not just the mammals so close to my beloved canines at home. I began to seek and see more while outside. I became the go-to helper if a counselor discovered a spider in the girls' bathroom before ushering the girls in. To save both parties, I would swoop in and move the eight-legged visitor back outside. Those who knew me as a youngster would hardly recognize me. Not only did I handle chicks, herd ducklings, befriend sheep and goats, I rescued arachnids and arthropods from the girls' room, touched a tegu, pet a python, and cuddled a corn snake.

As if to put an exclamation point on my incredible summer camp experience, the very last day at camp a magnificent praying mantis somehow entered the nature center and awaited notice on a shelf in the hallway. It sat among the pictures displayed on the white wall, so still several of us thought it was a toy donated for next year. As soon as we reached out, it readily climbed onto our hands, as if eager to join the other nature ambassadors that had taught us during our camp experience. It was a fitting end to a summer that has launched my renewed contemplation of unexplored genres and voices for discourse. What else have I been missing? I'm devoting some precious time to exploring that question. Stay tuned for more writings on reptiles, amphibians and insects. I have turned over a new leaf so to speak, with so many amazing natural wonders to explore and share! Leave a comment and let me know if you have any recommendations. Best wishes and happy reading!

---

Shame on me for leaving out an important piece from this post last week: photo credit! The top three photos are from Unsplash: Trail Photo by Jocke Wulcan, Time Flies Photo by Mary Oakey and Red-Eared Turtle Photo by Brittney Weng on Unsplash. The last three photos were taken by me, Tammy Young, at Northwest Park Nature Center this summer.