wildlife matters
By
Jackson
JEFF
for for a Walk
“Dad, we are coming home for the weekend,” said my daughter, Janet, when she called. “We want to walk in the stream.” She wants our little grandson, age 2, to enjoy a field trip in our stream. What a joy to have this opportunity! It seems like only yesterday that Janet was a little girl and we were taking her to the stream. Now she wants to do the same with her family.
A stream is a wonderful place for a family field trip. The stream border is an ecotone, the diverse zone where two habitats come together. It has the richness of the surrounding environment plus the interest of the aquatic environment and the ecotone where they meet. There is much to see and do. When wading a small stream you see things up close. Connection with the environment is intimate. A small stream affords an experience unavailable in big water. There will be no fishermen to disturb. It is better than walking a beach or seeing the edge of a river from a boat.
Take the Kids
in the Water
Jeff Jackson is a wildlife management consultant, based at his Tree Farm in Arnoldsville, Georgia. He is a retired professor of wildlife management and former Extension wildlife specialist at the University of Georgia. Reach him at (706) 543-2656.
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Tree Farmer
MAY/JUNE 2010
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tree Farmer - May/June 2010