New Nature Center in Massena, New York - Part 2

I was touring the brand new Robert Moses State Park Nature Center near Massena, NY (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). I entered another large room and was immediately drawn to a glass fronted display of taxidermy forest animals,:

A Mallard, a Beaver and a pair of Wood Ducks:

A pair of Ringneck Pheasants:


A Porcupine and a Turkey. There were many more specimens, including a pied deer, but you get the idea:


Tree rings, and their meaning. See the bear on the left? The naturalist took my picture with the bear, but there were none on the camera when I got home. He must have pushed the wrong buttons:

The bee colony had not yet arrived, but one was on the way and they were ready for it, with a transparent indoor display which will allow people to watch the bees' activities:

A huge, old hollow log (made of concrete, I think - I forgot to check). Children were drawn to it as if it were a magnet:

And inside the log, at the very ceiling, were realistic looking, fake bats which began squeaking suddenly and loudly as soon as someone entered. As you might guess, there were a lot of sudden reactions from the people (the adults more than the kids):

Beavers, the species which shaped our landscape and drew settlers westward when our nation was young:

A Wood Turtle, named for the wood grain type pattern on its carapace (top shell). I know they live around here because last year I rescued two of them from roads:

A Blandings Turtle. I didn't know they lived around here but I know they lived in Ohio, where I grew up, because I kept one once as a boy. The poor turtle had had his feet chewed off but it lived quite awhile in our washtub:

They had two baby Snapping Turtles who were not yet eating well, though they were tempting them by jiggling fish parts. This was an exceptional nature center and the two naturalists on duty were terrific. One of them I recognized from church, along with several of the visitors. I plan to return soon:

New Nature Center in Massena, New York - Part 1

I heard that a brand new nature center had opened over the weekend in the Robert Moses State Park, just northeast of Massena, NY on the St. Lawrence Seaway. I drove to it on Monday morning to have a look. The exterior was impressive, and crews were still working on the landscaping:

The interior was even more impressive, with a large aquarium front and center. If I remember correctly, I was told that it holds 2000 gallons of water:

There was a display at the top of the aquarium which showed how a muskrat lodge would look:

And down below, several Eastern Painted Turtles were swimming:

A few Green Frogs watched me from the weeds. I was told that they had gotten rather tame because the staff threw food to them. A friendly naturalist took me around, explaining things as we went:

Behind the big aquarium were a stuffed bear and beaver:

And lots of native fish swam in the waters below:

These were Yellow Perch:

Who needs wetlands? Every living thing on earth. This was, after all, right between the St. Lawrence and Grasse Rivers, with marshes and ponds and rivulets everywhere:

I was familiar with fresh water clams, but had no idea there were five species. I also learned that we have freshwater jellyfish (non-stinging), common to Adirondack lakes. They are clear, and about the size of a penny. They are a non-native species, introduced accidentally from China:

This aquarium had fish, turtles and crayfish:

 And most of the fish in it were Creek Chub. But I was just getting started and had much more to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: