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As I mentioned in my prior post, this is to be the second part in summing up November. And as I mentioned before, we spent most of November hiking the local nature trails.
I’ll begin by sharing some of our adventures on the trails.
Probably the scariest moment was when Sunfilly threw a tantrum for no apparent reason (as two-year-olds are wont to do), throwing herself into a pile of leaves along a creek bank. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a small, dark brown banded snake slithering out of the leaves towardsher. My split-second reasoning was this: “Garter snakes usually get startled and try to get away from screaming humans. This snake has a diamond-shaped head, a trait shared only by poisonous snakes. Poisonous snakes tend to be more aggressive than nonpoisonous snakes. Even baby poisonous snakes are poisonous. It’s probably not a garter snake and probably poisonous. It’s not worth waiting to find out.”
This is the snake that I killed and the stick I whacked it with. It's a crappy underbelly shot. This is a lousy picture because I took it using my pseudo-intellectual phone.
Okay, well, actually it was instinct, but that was what pretty my instinct was saying.
In that split second, I grabbed the large branch Starkitten had been using as a makeshift walking stick and whacked it on the head with all my strength. Three times. Then it was dead.
I took advantage of this tragic situation (I don’t like killing things that aren’t for food) to explain to the girls why I ask them to be careful when going through leaves, or why I instruct them to stay on the trail, or simply why they need to listen to me. Starkitten is old enough to understand when I say that something can hurt her, but I think that when she observed the snake die, she understood what I meant when I explained that snake bites could make her die, too.
Since the snake’s head was crushed pretty badly, I couldn’t determine for sure what it was, but I suspected that maybe it was some kind of water moccasin, which I thought was pretty common in North America. Then after talking to one of the volunteer park rangers I meet frequently during our hikes on the trail, I’m led to believe it may have been a baby copperhead, which was his suspicions based on my description of the markings and the aggressive behavior of the snake. He informed me that water moccasins don’t live this far north, which surprised me, considering how cold it does feel in humid Louisiana; and those nasty buggers made a terrible habit of getting into the house I grew up in and sleeping on the black curtain rods, blending in with the viny design of the metal. I assumed they did something similar here–hiding in warm buildings to weather the cold. But apparently it gets too cold for them in Ohio. I was also surprised that copperheads do live here, as I always thought of them as preferring warmer climates.
Well that was a fun little herpetology lesson for me.
A group of slider turtles sunning themselves on dead trees in a creek.
And speaking of herpetology, we did spot quite a few red-eared slider turtles here. They are fun to observe, especially when there are many of them piled onto each other on some log, sunning themselves. The game the girls and I played was to see how long we could watch them quietly before startling them into swiftly diving into the water. Hopefully such games will prepare them for the eventual camping and hiking trips my husband and I would love to take them on, where you would have to be extremely quiet to spot an animal, or to avoid something spotting you.
And one thing that I have really enjoyed about autumn in Ohio is the plentitude of migratory waterfowl. I never really saw them so numerous in Texas, and rarely in Louisiana. Here, they are everywhere. And what is really amazing is that, in the late evening or early morning, if the kids are asleep or being quiet, you can hear the geese honking and ducks quacking overhead as they fly south–past my old home–for the winter. The stillness of late November, after the first snow, really made experiencing this seem surreal.
As we passed someone's farm along the trail, we spotted a flock of ducks. Too bad it wasn't a public hunting grounds...
But when it was still warm enough to hike, and since it rained quite a bit here (making me think of that song by Guns n Roses), we would happen by flocks of waterfowl anywhere there was water. And “anywhere” included low-lying spots in some farmer’s land that had just accumulated water from all the rain.
Ducks and geese were a lot braver than the slider turtles and certainly braver than the wood ducks in Louisiana that I grew up seeing, but not as used to humans as the ducks we would see at the public parks in Dallas (where the birds were used to being fed by humans). They would stare at us as we passed, swimming off nonchalantly if the girls got too loud, and only flying away if they thought we were running towards them (which at first the girls would do–“Look, Mommy, a duck! Let’s catch the duck!”).
The "mystery bird." It blends in with the tree on which it is perched.
There were also some kind of crane or heron that we would observe on occasion. It would sit up high in the trees, and then suddenly dive into the water, and emerge with a struggling carp in its beak. It looked very majestic.
Even more amazing to observe was the rare sighting of a bald eagle swooping over a lake and catching a fish in its talons. We saw it happen twice, and both times Starkitten couldn’t stop talking about it.
How to Hike with Small Children
The trick to hiking with small children is all about patience and preparation.
You have to realize that kids do not have the stamina that adults have, even if they seem to have a million times more energy, and toddlers will have meltdowns about things over which you have no control (Sunfilly once had a meltdown because a dragonfly landed on Starkitten and not her). And if they are in a foul mood, it is probably best to not take them hiking, because the odds that they will not obey orders that would ensure their safety are pretty high. And you have to keep in mind that they cannot regulate the body temperatures as efficiently as an adult, so overdressing or underdressing them can lead to an unhappy toddler or ultimately even a sick one.
I typically took them in the morning, right after a big breakfast, and dressed them in layers. This way they were in a good mood and it would be easy to dress/undress them to make sure they were comfortable. And this way, by the time we returned, they would be nice and sleepy and nap well. I also made sure they had comfortable sneakers for hiking (there are hiking boots for kids at specialty stores, but since we don’t have that kind of money, I looked for sneakers that seemed to have a lot of cushioning in the soles and arch support).
Maybe it’s because I’m a little neurotic, but I tended to keep my backpack stocked with things like:
- an extra change of clothes and socks for each girl
- diapers and wipes (and diaper wipes are great for washing your hands in a pinch)
- a first-aid kit containing Benadryl, children’s pain reliever, bandages, Kleenex, Neosporin, and pain reliever for me
- pocket ponchos for each of us
- several bottles of water
- a Thermos full of coffee for me
- kid-sized Thermoses filled with milk for each girl (they are amazing at keeping drinks cold, even in the triple-digit Texas heat, for several hours, and they have convenient tot-friendly straws which detach for easy cleaning)
- trail mix
- a lunch box with our picnic lunch
- a few empty plastic shopping bags in which to put garbage
Of course, the backpack was certainly heavy, and reminded me of my ROTC years in college, but it was worth having these things handy when we needed it. I usually would carry Sunfilly on my shoulders on the way home, so undoubtedly my back was sore, but I was amazed at how much weight I was losing from all the exercise.
As for lunch, I usually packed fruits like apples, oranges, and peaches. For protein, I’d pack tuna or egg salad sandwiches, although occasionally it would be hard boiled eggs with crackers and cheddar cheese squares, at Starkitten’s request. If I forgot to freeze my ice packs for the lunch box, I’d pack the non-perishable lunch kits, like the tuna kits or chicken salad kits that you can get at any grocery store. These kinds of foods are low-mess and can be eaten while sitting on one of the park benches we’d find strewn along the trail, or even while sitting by a stream and watching the ducks.
For conservation reasons, I’ve educated my girls about the harms of littering. That is why I’d make sure to pack extra garbage bags. I’ve explained that dumping your trash on nature can hurt the wild animals and plants. Of course, now Starkitten complains when she sees an empty beer bottle or some other refuse marring otherwise pristine woods.
After the snake incident, I make sure to keep a walking stick handy. The walking stick I use is just a branch from a tree chopped down by our landlord. It’s straight, solid oak and is handy for whacking whatever nasties may try to hurt my babies.
Starkitten flaunts a maple leaf she found, which is larger than her head, and her makeshift walking stick.
And I cannot stress the “patience” part of hiking with kids enough. Some kids love being outdoors, some don’t. Some kids are content to walk and explore nature, others want to get messy in it. Fortunately for me, my girls love being outdoors and are learning to not just grab at things.
But I still have to keep them engaged.
So we play games, like who can find the biggest leaf? or how many colors of leaves or flowers can we spot? or how many turtles can we find?
I’ve also noticed how easy it is to educate kids during a nature walk: that fungi and insects and vultures help to clean up things that have died and return them to the earth to benefit other living things; that the gingko tree is a living fossil; that some animals hibernate and some migrate; that not all trees shed their leaves for winter; and even how to watch the clouds for rain.
Making Trail Mix
Trail mix is really great for staving off growling tummies, and is packed with carbs and protein. Since it’s expensive, I tend to make my own, as the ingredients can be much more affordable if you buy them individually (and in bulk).
You can really mix together any combination of ingredients, but here is what I tend to use, as the kids seem to like it best:
Homemade trail mix.
- peanuts
- dried edamame
- sesame sticks
- raisins
- dried cranberries
- dates
- sunflower kernels
This is where the cranberries started popping.
- 4 cups (about 1 bag) of cranberries
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- Pick through the cranberries for any that look overripe or moldy or just gross you out. Rinse them and let them drain.
- Pour the sugar and water into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally so that the sugar dissolves better.
- Let it boil for 3-5 minutes.
- Add the cranberries. Reduce heat to medium and boil for about 10 minutes, or when the cranberries start popping.
- Reduce to a simmer, add the spices, and stir. Let it simmer for another 2 minutes. Then remove from heat.
Okay, so I'll get a little Thanksgiving-sentimental here. I'm thankful for evenings like the one pictured here, enjoying a perfect sunset to a perfect day lost in Mother Nature with my family.
For Further Reading
- Wildlife Encounters: Timber Rattler and Garter Snake (chasingsalamanders.wordpress.com)
- Tompkins: Despite drought, it’s an ‘epic year’ for ducks (chron.com)
- Backyard circle of life…and lessons on the trail with two young children! (breathelighter.wordpress.com)
- My meeting with the mountains. (myperfectlyimbalancedlife.wordpress.com)
- Day 8: Grand Teton National Park (jennifermerck.net)
Mommysaurus Wrecks 