What a wonderful day
for a walk in the woods!
October 15,2017
Eric Nelson lead the way as he pointed out the many
different species of trees, rocks, ferns. The group used its senses of sight,
smell, and touch when learning how to tell the different between local trees
such as the Sweet Birch (Black Birch) when crushed has the aroma of
wintergreen, Witch-hazel and its use as an astringent, Sassafras with its sweet
root beer aroma just to name a few. The list could go on and on. Kathan Woods
has a good range of different species for plants/trees to explore.
We also were fortunate to see animal scat that is believed
to be from a red fox that was seen at the trail head that morning as well as
smelling its wonderful musky, almost skunk like scent along the way before
heading up to the Bluff Head. Eric described how the red fox uses its scat as
well as its scent as a way of conveying its status and marking its territory.
He also had the group tune in their hearing to the many different bird calls we
heard through out the day.
Thank you to Eric and let’s not forget Barney and the
historical tid-bits he provided of the Kathan Woods property for making the 24th
Annual Hike one that I am sure will be remembered by all as a time of being in
good company, making new friends, and enjoying a day in the woods with the
added benefit of learning something new along the way!
Eric Nelson is a naturalist from Cheshire who holds many
programs on rocks, trees, plants, etc. Besides being a guide on hikes, Eric holds workshops that are featured at the Cheshire Historical Society.
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