Shaw Nature Reserve

On Friday, my cousin Mike and I went on an expedition to check out Shaw Nature Reserve, which neither of us had ever been to! It's just outside St. Louis County on highway 44, near Gray Summit, about a 45 minute drive for us. It would have been a five dollar entrance fee for each of us at the visitor center, but Mike has a membership with the Missouri Botanical Garden, so we got in free!

I was dismayed to learn that the larger road loop is closed on weekends, because I had been looking at the trails online and the one I was hoping to do was too far to walk. However, there were a lot of others to choose from, and we ended up improvising pretty well. We started by driving out on the shorter loop that was still open. It was prairie on all sides, with a few isolated trees and forest in the distance. We stopped at the first parking area, which was for one of the houses on the property, and the wildflower garden. The garden was beautiful!

A Family Bike Ride

(Insert standard disclaimer about having gotten really behind and never sorted through the photos from last fall...)

Yesterday my family went on a bike ride together. We used to do this all the time - we always brought our bikes on summer trips, and would ride around the neighborhood, but it's been years since my sister and I did much riding, and we have no idea how long it's been since the four of us did one together! I'm still at home right now, and since school is out my sister the teacher was free, so we made plans to get up bright and early to beat the heat.

We didn't leave at 6:30, but we did leave just after 7:00, which isn't bad for us! Dad was still able to get the bike rack and all four bikes up on top of the Jeep, and we had our helmets and water bottles in the trunk. We didn't take time for breakfast, just some granola bars and bananas, and we headed off.

Our destination was Horseshoe Lake State Park in Illinois, which was only 23 miles away. It's a natural lake, formed when an old oxbow curve of the river got cut off. As we drove across the Mississippi, we could see some flooded fields, and lots of egrets taking advantage of the temporary wetlands! There were white birds everywhere. Presumably a lot of minnows and other critters got stranded when the floods receded, so there was plenty to eat.

As we drove into the park and along the lake, we saw several great blue herons, and a colony of Canada geese, including some fuzzy ones! Actually, the goslings were all getting pretty big - still cute, but getting their adult necks.

We parked, and I took a few pictures while Dad and Mom were unloading the bikes. (I would have been in the way!)

Switching parks soon!

I've enjoyed my summer here at Montauk State Park, but they're not going to be able to keep me on through the fall as we'd hoped. However, I found out that Sam A. Baker State Park was looking for a full-time naturalist to work through the fall, and today I found out that I got the job! I'll be starting there next week - although I will be coming back to Montauk one more time, as I already promised to help with programs during the holiday.

Hognose snakes – such drama!

Hognose snakes are known for their dramatic performances. Specifically, the lengths they go to in order to persuade whatever has frightened them that messing with them is a bad idea. They have several variations:

First, they will shake their tail very hard so that it rustles the leaves and might just make you think they are a rattlesnake. A lot of nonvenomous snakes do this particular trick, actually.

They will pretend to strike, but instead of biting they just head-butt you. If you saw a snake dart out at you and you felt something, you’d probably be fooled!

They will flatten out their neck and rear up like a cobra! (This is the one from the Naturalist office here at Montauk State Park – Steve sometimes takes it out and provokes it into doing this. I do not, as I have no confidence in my ability to keep it from heading for the hills.)

Tiny snakes

Earlier this summer, my coworker Azmyth brought in a brown snake that she caught in her yard on her day off when she was moving boxes. She had read that they do well in captivity, and this one did. Not all snakes do. She was not much bigger than a pencil, and that’s as big as they get – one of those things that produces the tiny rustle when you’re out hiking and then you can’t see anything. They eat worms, slugs, things like that.

We suspected she was pregnant, but didn’t know for sure. Then, on August 6, I went to show her to a visitor and realized she was not alone! There were several baby snakes in there!

Showing the park off to family

On July 28, my sister Joanne and her friend Amanda came to visit the park! They arrived a little before lunchtime, so we started with a walk at Montauk Spring. It was as lovely as ever, although I was disappointed they didn’t get to see the muskrat. Or even a snake!

This is one of those pretty little flowers that is too small to make it into the flower book.

A close encounter at Montauk Spring

On July 21 I was scheduled to do a nature walk at Montauk Spring. Sadly, no one showed. However, I walked out to the spring anyway, and was glad I did!

Bellflowers at the trail entrance.