Today, my friend Tina and I, took our kids on a nature trail hike at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center. They have a little demonstration village that shows how the Maidu Native Americans lived.
The grinding rocks where the Maidu ground acorns into flour…
Huts made out of tule (a type of water reed)
I have to remind myself, I CHOSE to move here…
The nature center has an educational display with an assortment of animals that live in the area. There were snakes, lizards, a couple of owls, and a hawk. There was also an additional room with taxidermied animals and other items from Maidu life.
Grinding acorns…
Hitting the trail…
Tina’s younger son found this butterfly or moth chrysalis! Pretty amazing!!
Looking at a caterpillar…
Skipping rocks on the American river…
There were actually two lizards on this log. One of them puffed himself up to scare us off…
Watching a tiny ant walk around with a piece of dried grass that was about thrre times the size of his body…
‘A’ and I spent some time trying to identify this caterpillar. We had no luck, so if anyone knows…
We saw a rafter (group) of turkeys!! Interesting to note: We were able to get close enough to notice these hairlike things hanging off the chest of the turkey. I looked it up and found out that male turkeys grow a cluster of long, hairlike feathers from the center of its chest. This cluster is known as the turkey’s beard. On adult males, these beards average about 9 inches long. 10 to 20 percent of hens also grow beards.
Heading back to the car, we were given a “goodbye salute” by a bunch of frogs and a turtle!
You sure are teaching your chldren to love nature. You have an A plus science class there with all your nature hunts I see in all your posts.
I’m glad that you didn’t see any rattlesnakes – that sign might have sent me back to the car 🙂
I love the picture you have on top of your blog. Is that your own?
Antoinette
Thanks, Antoinette! Since we live in the suburbs, it’s important to me to have my children be familiar with all of God’s creations. He is so creative!!
My top picture is lovely, I agree. I cannot take credit for it, though. It came with the template. Take care. Hugs to you.