Many Trails To Travel, Many Tales To Tell
By Barbara B. Baker, Event & Volunteer Coordinator
Learning With The Little Ones
The first Junior Naturalist Program sponsored by the River Park was held at the Rancho Bernardo Community Park and Piedras Pintadas Trail. Children ages 7-10 were invited to participate in this seed program. We expect to hold the trainings annually to encourage kids to interact with nature in a positive, safe, and educational environment. I was on hand to facilitate, which is a nice word for gofer/guinea pig. The Instructor, professional Naturalist Lee Kirchhevel, had everything choreographed to ensure that four hours would be enough and just enough! My attention span is probably par with that age group, and I know I didn’t have time to get bored or start whining about what was next or what if. He kept everybody moving and busy. At the end of the session when he began summarizing the skills he’d been teaching, I was surprised to realize that I had been learning with the little ones! I was having so much fun that I didn’t know I was actually learning – when I made that discovery I decided to reward myself too with a certificate and magnifying glass!
I deserve graduation goodies for being a sport! During the sensory awareness exercises I was blindfolded and dubbed a mule deer so that all the little “mountain lions” could stalk me! [ No pictures available of this activity, unfortunately. Editor's comment.] Luckily they couldn’t charge at me because that was part of the lesson – a hungry mountain lion wants to do what it can to eat, and that means following certain patterns of behavior. Mule Deer have two things going for them: their speed, and their ability to fend off attacks with their powerful hooves. No, I didn’t get to run from the kids or kick them! I got a water bottle and if I heard them approach I could spray them, putting an end to their plans. This illustrated how much I as a mule deer depended on my hearing rather than my poor eyesight. Since he had taught them how to do the “fox walk” and tread quietly using certain parts of the foot, I didn’t stand much of a chance. They also had the benefit of “scope of vision” which was part of the practice of slowly taking in the big picture, so to speak. The idea is to focus on one object, then add another, and another, until you see things much as a canvas with an array of color and detail.
The bird that you heard . . . Out on the trail we spotted many birds and then looked at them close-up in a field guide. I suppose the one I found most interesting is the California Gnatcatcher because I could hear it! It almost sounds like a cat meowing. Coastal sage scrub is their habitat so we both heard and saw many Gnatcatchers! Along the trail the children stopped at every sign of scat, or animal poop as they called it. This isn’t my favorite part of tracking, but they were quick to determine by the signs present what kind of animal had passed by and in some cases whether it was predator or prey. The instructor reiterated that there is no “what if” in nature, only “what is” – a very important concept in nature and I’m sure in life as well. On the discovery hike the kids noted deer bones, a variety of bugs (including a stink bug which is actually a darkling beetle) and a number of lizards. They were taught to “pack it in and pack it out” and to look at everything as though they were in a museum, albeit a museum without walls. Each piece is vital to the whole; adding to it or taking away from it alters the “exhibit”.
The Primitive Skills program was a real treat! Once we were past making tools, which was tedious I admit, we saw how to trap a rabbit, prepare acorn mush, and how to make fire without matches in order to cook our imaginary stew! Could we do that? Not on a bet! It took him some time and a lot of effort to blow smoke into embers and start a real fire – at the end of that presentation all 22 kids chanted “One More Time” to see it again! I admit that it was pretty impressive! Being hungry is critical in nature, Kirchhevel said again and again. It inspires better methods of doing things and teaches patience and endurance. When he played music on a wooden flute, we all sat spellbound. I probably drank more water that day than at any other time, noticing that it really does quench thirst better than soft drinks or juice. We went over safety tips for encountering snakes and the importance of staying on the trails. By the end of the session I had had as much fun as I have at my brother-in-law’s magic shows. Which just goes to show that there is magic in nature and the child in all of us loves learning how things work!
If you have a favorite trail or story please contact me at Barbara@sdrp.org. History isn’t always in the books; sometimes it’s in the stories! Share your history with the San Dieguito River Park.
