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One of the activities that we participated in with John Brady, the forest manager, and Matt Munson, a forest ranger, was "Turtle Trapping" in two different pond. Sutherland Pond which was the natural one and Alec Meadow Reservoir which was man-made. We all took turns wearing the waders (a rubber suit that protects you from the water) and setting the traps. Some of us got stuck in the mud and needed help; but it was fun. The next day, when we went back to the ponds, we had caught two painted turtles, one in each pond. One was tagged and the other was not. They tag them so they can keep track of their population and their rate of growth. We also measured their length, width, height and weight. Then we release them.
The second activity that we did was "Water Testing" in both ponds. We tested for pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrate, Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, and Carbon Dioxide. Both ponds had different results.
We all went to two different hikes. One to Black Rock Mountain and the second around Arthur's Pond. On the hikes we identified different types of plants. Some of them were: Wine Berry, Small White Asters, Deadly Nightshade, Wood Aster, Slender Goldenrod, Alpine Goldenrod and Blueberry. We also learned about the Syrphid Fly which looks like a yellow jacket wasp but is actually a fly. They wave their black legs in front of them which makes the legs look like antennae. We also found a Red-Spotted Newt.
At night we played a game called Man-Hunt. We split up into two teams and hid from each other. Dasha, David and I found Hans and Thomas very quickly, but, we could not find Jay. Then, all of the sudden Jay jumps out of the bushes and scares us. We screamed really loud. We also played card games and laughed at some of the noises that we heard during the night when some of us were sleeping.
We also went up to the Fire Tower where we saw a very nice view of the Catskill Mountains. Everything we did was fun and educational.
Wileyda Cardona
USA
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