Nicandri Nature Center - Part 1

The nature center in Massena, New York opened this past spring and when I first visited there, I called it the Robert Moses (State Park) Nature Center. It does seem to be on state park land or at least adjacent to it, but the official name is Nicandri Nature Center:

There are trained interpretive naturalists on duty to take school kids on guided tours or to shoot the breeze with an old geezer like me who once studied these things but had to earn his living elsewhere. Pollywogs, weeds and wildlife have been my passion since I was a small boy, trying to catch minnows in the local creek. This gigantic, wrap-around aquarium is the first thing a visitor sees:

On an island inside the big aquarium were four frogs, probably Green Frogs (though I didn't ask). The naturalist told me that some of the big Channel Catfish had been trying to eat them, so they stayed up where it was safe and waited for the staff to feed them crickets:

The aquarium was filled with Bullhead, Perch, Channel Catfish, Sunfish, Bluegills, etc. There was a Map Turtle and probably other animals as well, but the beaver, bear and heron were stuffed:

Who needs wetlands? We all do, and the St. Lawrence River wetlands are an ideal place to study them:

Another giant aquarium in another room contained other species. In this photo are a Bullfrog tadpole (on the log) and two Sturgeons (resting on the gravel). There were eels and other species as well. The Mudpuppy was a rubber model which sat on a shelf outside the aquarium:

In the big aquarium were several Longnose Gars, the first I'd ever seen in real life:

And a display case with five species of local freshwater clams:

One entire wall was filled with a wildlife diorama which contained taxidermy mammals and birds:

I remembered the pied deer from my last visit because it was so unusual:

A black bear. I was told that the small bear skin at its feet was for school children to handle so they could keep their hands off of the full bear. Pictures with the bear, however, are encouraged:

Behind the wavy glass were scenes as could be found in wild settings all through the area. There was more for me to see, though, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Chapter Two - The Wild Center!

I continued my tour of the Wild Center in Tupper Lake. I was especially interested in the mushrooms, as I so often see and photograph them while hiking. I have only once seen a green mushroom and I don't think it was these, but I'll now be able to identify one if I see it in the future:

There were lots of wetland displays as the Adirondacks is filled with bogs, ponds, lakes, creeks and rivers. Water, water, everywhere:

The displays on the right were about peat bogs and that giant fish tank on the left contained several indigenous species:

Including Lake Trout:

And Sturgeon:

There was a giant Pitcher Plant display:

And all about flooding, shallow water fish and nighttime species:

More about wetlands:

And Brook Trout:

This was the otter display, a big favorite. The swim tank was very large and L-shaped. The part you see here was merely a small portion of it. The happy, playful otters also had dry land on which to live and you can see that over on the right, above that cave opening. The cave was for children to explore:

I took many photos of the otters but they were moving so rapidly that none of them were useable. So I admit that this photo and the next one are from the internet:

When I studied Wildlife Biology in college, my Adviser specialized in River Otters and kept several of them as research animals which, I could tell, were secretly pets as well. I had my photo taken with them and it appeared on the cover of a pamphlet about the Honors Program. But there was still more to see at the Wild Center and I'll post Chapter Three tomorrow: