Early Winter in Pakenham

By Madeleine L. (Junior)

December 6^th, 2003

On Saturday we went on a field trip to Pakenham. It was pretty cold but we were all dressed very warmly. The first thing we saw was a deer that had been shot and was hung outside someone's house so the blood would drip out. Then we came to the sand pit and stopped there for a bit to look at deer tracks and some neat ice crystals that Johnny found. We walked a while more and went over a bridge that had pretty big gaps between each plank, which I thought was freaky, but we all got across. Then we went up through the woods and followed a porcupine trail to its den. We hiked a while more and passed a first beaver pond but kept walking since it wasn't quite frozen. We passed lots of deer tracks and finally came to the second beaver pond. Then Rob found a good place near the pond and we made a fire and had lunch. Rob had gotten Johnny some gypsy moth eggs and we listened to them pop in the fire. When we were done we went on the pond and slid on the ice for a while, which was really fun. Once we were tired of sliding, Rob told us some things about beavers and while we were listening we suddenly heard a huge crack (some of us felt it too). Luckily, it was only the ice sinking a bit, but we decided we better get off. It cracked some more as we headed off but none of us fell in. We then headed for the old barns and when we got there we looked at them and climbed one of the more solid ones. After that we just hiked back to the road where our cars were parked. We were all pretty tired by the end but it was a really fun trip.

Past Trips

• Sept. 17, 2005 - Aquatic Animals Galore
  
• Jan. 29, 2005 - Tagging Trees, Lots of Lichens, and Macoun Members Munching on Maple Leaves
  
• Jan. 15, 2005 - Mystery Muskrat
  
• Dec. 4, 2004 - Animal Tracks and Tasty Trees
  
• Oct. 2, 2004 - Sand Pit Excursion in Pakenham
  
• Sept. 18, 2004 - Salamander Hunting During Another Trip to the Study Area
  
• April 24, 2004 - Stalking Snakes in the Study Area
  
• Dec. 6, 2003 - Early Winter in Pakenham
  
• Sept. 20, 2003 - An Early Autumn Trip to the Macoun Club's Nature Study Area
  

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