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:

Madawaska Pond - Part 3

The dogs and I turned back before reaching the dam because my ankles were becoming increasingly painful. It had been a wonderful walk through spectacular scenery and I didn't want it to end on an unhappy note:

We reached the overlook over Madawaska Pond again, always a beautiful sight:

The dogs went into the water once again and little Clover rolled in the sand to dry off:

As for Seamus, he just wanted to lie down and rest while I again dumped the sand and pine needles out of my shoes and braces:

But we were back on the trail in short order. At one point I heard what sounded like a Black Bear "chuffing." I called the dogs to heel and prepared to turn around. I made lots of noise so as not to surprise a bear, and either it worked or there never was one there in the first place because we continued on our way without incident:

And a lovely way it was:

We stopped by the water's edge one more time so the dogs could refresh themselves:

Jack fell in face first but it didn't seem to phase him one bit:

As for me, I found part of a beaver's jaw with one long incisor. I debated what other animal it might be but it seemed pretty darn obvious to me that it was a beaver:

One last look back over Madawaska Pond and all its flowering water lilies:

It was a wonderful hike, short and easy walking like I need them to be these days. I was happy:

The dogs were tired and went to sleep once we were on our way home. It was a good day to be a dog: