Turkey Creek and Huntingdon

Mary Katherine

Ander

About a week ago the class want to Turkey Creek. It was one of my favorite field trips e took because of the gorgeous creek running through the park. I could have sat there and read a book and just relaxed because it was so peaceful. When we first arrived we had to get the keys for the gate but Dr. Van Zandt told us to get out of the van because there were lots of bugs on the shed where he had to get the keys. Unfortunately, I did not find any bugs there because they were already watched up. Then we finally made it into the park. Our first thirty minutes of our field trip was just exploring and searching for bugs. Everyone really ran down to the creek while Jpatt and I stayed up in the grassy area. There I found a grasshopper and some sort of little beetle. After we searched the grassy area for about fifteen minutes but then we made it down to the creek with the others. I did not find anything down by the creek but that was okay because it was just relaxing and beautiful watching the creek. After we searched for about thirty minutes Dr. Van Zandt gathered us all together and showed us and talked about where we were going next. It was a spot in between two sides of the forests where he said insects loved to be. Before we all started heading that way he showed us this Praying Mantis cocoon/eggs. It was were the Praying Mantis lays their eggs. It was very different than anything else we have ever seen on these field trips and it was very cool. After we searched in between the pine trees for a couple of minutes we then loaded the bus and came back to campus. It was an awesome field trip just because of the natural beauty. Dr. Van Zandt explained how we could come back to Turkey Creek during the summer and play and fish in the creek. I really want to try and come this summer because I love fishing and playing in water. 

Sadly I was not able to go on the class trip to Turkey Creek because we had a basketball game at Huntingdon. This was upsetting because I have really enjoyed all of the off campus adventures. Since I was not able to go on the trip I decided to make the best of it. I knew Huntingdon was in the middle of nowhere so I thought maybe  I could find some insects there. I brought one small "kill jar" with me and hoped I could at least find one insect. I would have around 4 hours before my game started because the JV team had a game before we did. When arriving at Huntingdon the first thing that I noticed was a small park. On the side of the park was a small creek and beside the creek were some logs and rocks. The logs and rocks seemed out of place so I began to look under them. The first few rocks I did not find anything. Finally after picking up a rock I found 2 earwigs that looked different than the ones we already had in our collection. The next day I brought them to class to put in our collection and quickly realized that I was wrong and we already had this insect. Overall I wish I would have been able to go to Turkey Creek especially after seeing all the pictures.