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& On 2014-06-24, at 10:23 AM, Fred Schueler <bckcdb@istar.ca> wrote: > * it's hard to see this as bullshit - it's one of the fundamental problems facing naturalists and nature in these latter days. Both kids and society suffer from Nature Appreciation Deficit Disorder, and from the consequences the grotesque exploitation of the Earth by those afflicted with NADD. It's a big part of the job of naturalists to reverse this, and temporarily holding Turtles in captivity is one of the classic ways of communing with nature and getting started with science > > fred. * I would like to echo what Fred Schueler has just commented. While I'm definitely not advocating that parents should capture painted turtles for spoilt children, etc..., I do wonder if there is a natural history education program available at that site (and others as well). Being close enough to observe small creatures is one way of inspiring interest and empathy for the natural world. Some will say, "But there are interpretive signs!" To which I will reply, "Those are not enough." For several years, I conducted volunteer stream surveys in the Ottawa area. A science teacher at one of that city's high schools asked if she could bring her Grade 10 biology class out to spend a full day with my survey partner and I once each season. I believe we did four of these annual class outing surveys. I soon learned that, almost without exception, no child had ever held a frog, crayfish, turtle, fish, butterfly, or dragonfly. In fact, many of these kids were quite afraid and sometimes even terrified of touching, being touched by, or even looking closely at these creatures. A couple of times I had to have talks with kids who screamed and immediately crushed fishing or wolf spiders on sight. However, by the end of a day of survey work, most of the kids were quite comfortable about picking up crayfish, netting and releasing minnows, carefully holding a dragonfly, or having a frog sit on their hands. I hope that, out of that hundred or so biology students, at least one or two will have chosen to pursue some line of work in the field of natural history, environmental studies, or conservation management. I hope that a further few may have become teachers who will find a way to transfer their experience that day in some way to another generation of students. I hope that a goodly number of those students, should they ever have children of their own, will remember that day spent on a river counting and measuring crayfish or learning something about identifying frog species. Unfortunately, the opportunities for nature encounters are becoming increasingly few. As it was, during the four years of our class stream surveys, we went from fairly simple arrangements for an outing, to increasingly more difficult arrangements where the school wanted to know if my partner and I had life guard training, rescue gear, etc... We were volunteers with one of the region's conservation authorities, so acting as life guards was not part of our schtick. We were working in quiet, mid-calf-deep streams, so you can see where all of this was going. As well, even locating a suitable study area - clean water with excellent biodiversity - became increasingly difficult as several of the best reaches of river were basically ruined by subdivision development just within that small period of time I am describing. A lot of this makes me feel sad and sick. I wonder how, and where, and from whom, children will learn about nature. bev wigney Round Hill, NS - in summer.
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