Yesterday the Explorers went to Mt Pollux, a sweet little conservation area in South Amherst. They scooped the tall grass and found lots of insects and put them in containers for further study. They found lots of native walking stick insects, which is the only place I know of that you can find them! (Please share if you have found them elsewhere, they are so cool!) We have Thai walking sticks on exhibit at the Hitchcock Center and it is fun to compare them and notice how they are different.
Today the Explorers watched Maizie, our corn snake eat a mouse. Here they are watching very intently and quietly. They knew that you have to be really calm and still to watch Maizie eat, because if you're not, she gets too nervous and won't eat.
We were very lucky to be visited by Matt Boyer of the UMASS Amherst entomology department. He had a crew of helpers with him who taught the Explorers about native pollinators and led everyone in building four "bee hotels"! Campers had an awesome time building them. Now we have four bee hotels for the Larch Hill Collaborative! We think two will live at the Hitchcock Center and two will live at Bramble Hill Farm. But we're not sure. A huge thank you to Matt and his crew for coming and facilitating this project!!!
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