Bethany Land Trust - Mendell's Folly
TEMJ 20029 - Beaver, Otter, Owl, Ceremonial Stonework, North American Wildlife Tracking Conference, Mammalian Monitoring, Native American
CAS Mammal Monitoring
I virtually met Linda Ruth at the CyberTracker event, as mentioned below. Linda noted that the Bethany Land Trust was collaborating with the CT Audubon Society (CAS) on a mammal monitoring event, on March 26th. The organization has collected over 10 years of data at this site. The official purpose of the event is the monitoring of populations of half a dozen “focal species” on the Mendell’s Folly site. The monitoring group is composed of fellow naturalists, former CT DEEP professionals, and educators. Our time together was spent observing, discussing and learning about the wild plants, mushrooms, birds, insects and other forest inhabitants found at Mendell’s Folly Preserve. Moreover, several of the members are wildlife biologists and are studying mammal tracks and sign. With an invitation from Linda to join this event, I could not resist. So on Saturday March 26th, I joined the group for the Mendell’s Folly mammal monitoring hike.
Bethany Land Trust
The Bethany Land Trust, Inc. is a private, charitable, non-profit corporation dedicated to serving Bethany Connecticut through the conservation of land. Formerly known as the Bethany Conservation Trust, it was established by Bethany residents in 1968 to protect the Trust’s first donation, a 27-acre tract of land that was generously donated by Marion Jenkins. Since that time, the Trust has acquired 20 other parcels in outright fee ownership and accepted 18 conservation easements, bringing the total acreage under its protection to about 550 acres.
The Fellowship - The Monitoring Team
In true Tolkien style , we had several folks attend the hike-monitoring event. Team members that were present for the Mendell’s Folly hiking event were: Christin Arnini (leader), Bill Rwrewinski, Bob Stobierski, Ali Nork, and Jack Nork. In total, seven monitors went a field. Ali and Jack had a hard stop and departed early due to a prior commitment. We had lovely weather, bright sunshine with temperature breaking 60 degrees in the afternoon. A slight breeze was in the air.
North American Wildlife Tracking Conference
Previously on March 18th & 19th, 2023, I attended the Cyber Tracker’s (North America) annual North American Wildlife Tracker conference. This year the conference was held virtually and it brought together certified trackers, wildlife professionals and tracking enthusiasts. The two days were packed with virtual presentations, panel discussions and community-building.
I attended the virtual presentations and panel discussions on Saturday, March 18th . There were so many concurrent sessions, that I had a difficult time picking which sessions to attend. Thank goodness that many are recorded so I can go back and listen to them.
Here is a short-list of some of the sessions they ran on Saturday:
Being Beaver: A Wildlife Tracker's Guide to a Keystone Species
Black Bear Sign-making Behavior
Otterly confusing: How to distinguish between three Asian otter species by their tracks
The ethology of wolves foraging on freshwater fish in a boreal ecosystem
A whole new world: How tracking activities can help students better understand and engage with the world around them
The Tracker, The Storyteller, The Healer
The session on Black Bears, delivered by Sue Mansfield was amazing. The video that Sue captured, and shared with us, was amazing. Sue was able to track a mama bear in her den all winter and later into the spring. The video features mama bear and her three cubs and also features a cameo of her older step daughter.
Lastly, the conference management platform supported Q&A, Polls, Chat and general community building. The chat facility aided in connecting and networking with several other local Connecticut professionals and enthusiasts. This journal entry was spurred on by my chat with Linda Ruth.
Mendell’s Folly
Encompassing 125 acres, Mendell’s Folly is the largest property owned by the Bethany Land Trust. It is located off Route 42, straddling the border between Bethany and Beacon Falls, and features a trail system covering 1.5 miles. The property is located across the street from the recently acquired Van Epps Preserve, which connects to Naugatuck State Forest. Limited parking is available on the south side of Route 42 at the Beacon Falls boundary.
History of the Name
On March 30th, 1867 Secretary of State, William H. Seward agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars. Critics attacked Seward for the secrecy surrounding the deal, which came to be known as “Seward's folly.” The press mocked his willingness to spend so much on “Seward's icebox” and Andrew Johnson's “polar bear garden.”
According to Bob Stobierski, the naming of the Mendell property has a historical story associated with it, or so they say. In similar fashion, when Mrs. Mendell learned about her husband’s purchase of the acreage, that now comprises the preserve, she was very skeptical. She wittingly called it ‘Mendell’s Folly’ which was meant to be a tip of the hat to Seward’s Folly. In hindsight, both land acquisitions turned out to be spectacular for the respective parties.
Mammalian Monitoring
When conducting mammalian monitoring, it is important that you allocate enough time in your schedule so that you can slow-down. Monitoring of nature requires that we consciously and physically ‘slow down’. This is not a hiking event or sprint, but more like a marathon.
If we are going to read today’s story in the natural landscape we need to move a snail’s pace. Whenever you slow down you can fine tune your senses to pick up on the details. Slowing down creates a sense of timelessness and it is within this space our most cherished discoveries will be found.
Bob Stobierski mentioned mammalian monitoring is like an Agatha Christie novel, where most things are commonplace and we are searching for the things that are out-of-place. You are the detective. We might hear an unusual sound, or see an over turned leaf on the ground. There are a string of clues all around us. The natural world is constantly changing and something is transforming the landscape, from what it once was, to what it is. We are reading The Book of Nature. Each day the sun, fire, wind, water and animals write a new page in this murder-mystery novel. The only way to fully comprehend ‘The Book of Nature’ is by practicing - by putting in the dirt-time.
Below is a list of the track and sign we identified at Mendell’s Folly.
Beaver (BV)
The Beaver (castor canadensis) is the largest rodent in North America, measuring up to 2.5 feet long and weighing up to 70 lbs. Their tails are hairless and paddle shaped, 8-10 inches in length and about 5-6 inches wide. The older a beaver gets, the bigger the beaver will be.
Beavers live on the edges of streams and lakes. They make their homes by burrowing into banks or by building a mud-n-stick lodge in the middle of lakes and ponds. The beaver is nocturnal.
Beavers have two stomachs to help them process the wood fiber they eat. Their scat is found in the water. It is about the size of a golf ball and looks like an orange walnut. The scat is held together lightly and the smallest touch and the scat will fall apart. It then resembles wood chips, similar in nature to what a chain saw produces.
Since beavers transform the landscape in large-scale, finding sign of beaver is not difficult. We found ample signs of beaver all along the pond and Hauknum Brook. Smaller saplings were cut down. We also saw larger trees where a beaver was gnawing at the tree and left bite marks on the tree trunk. The beaver eats the inner bark of trees, such as willow, birch, aspen, or cottonwood. The sharp, iron-coated, incisors act as a chisel and never stop growing. A mature beaver can cut down a 5 inch tree is three minutes or less.
River Otters (RO)
One of the rarest otters, which is now endangered, is the hairy nosed otter located in Asia. Otters have a smooth-coat. Otters are predators to most fish species. There are many threats for otters. The most obvious is water pollution, habitat loss. Loss of fish prey and the illegal pet and fur trade. Otters are umbrella species for wetlands and are a bio-indicator for water- quality. This is why the River Otter was chosen as one of the focal-species to be identified at Mendell’s Folly.
We identified several signs of Otters at Mendell’s Folly. This included otter scat and even an abandoned otter mudslide which was embedded in the bak of the pond. In another area we even found fragments of fish bones and fish scales. Lastly we even found a partially digested shell of a crawfish.
There is an an initiative at WildTrack, which involves analyzing otter footprints using machine learning and AI. The system manages a large dataset of images of otter footprints. For each otter footprint, 11 land mark points are identified. From these 11 points a geometric profile is created which generates 208 measurements between the 11 points. The geometric profiles feed a FIT model which is used to identify species, sex, individuals and population size. All this information is generated from pictures of otter footprints. You can and should think of this as the FBI’s database of fingerprints, except this database is for otters.
Owl
While not one of the keystone species we were looking for, Bob did find signs of an owls presence. Under a large white pine Bob found an owl pellet. The white pine had plenty of branches for roosting. Directly below one of the branches we found this pellet which contained feathers and bones.
Other Fauna and Flora
Other notable fauna and flora found at Mendell’s Folly.
Stones On a boulder (SOBs)
As mentioned in my last journal entry, TEMJ 20014 - I also found Native American ceremonial stonework at Mendell’s Folly. There were at least three examples of SOBs that I identified at this location. Here is a picture of one of them. One of the members of the team was already aware of them.
The End Of The Trail
Well folks we have made it back to the trailhead, back to our vehicle. Thank you for getting this far and reading The Earthmonk Journal. If you like what you have read, please subscribe to the journal. It is free and it is a great way to support me and my work.
Subscribe and follow me as I will be sharing my thoughts and my interpretations of the Native America stonework in the first place. I’m working on a NEW post, which I hope to publish in the coming weeks. Stay Tuned!
- The Earthmonk
Thx Jen for the restack. Very grateful!!!🙏👍