The Ney Nature Center/Minneopa State Park Field Trip-Part 1

Due to bad weather, my Minnesota Master Naturalist class had to make up a field trip, so we went to the Ney Nature Center in Henderson, Minnesota first, and then on to Minneopa State Park near Mankato, Minnesota.

NEY HOMESTEAD 

At the Ney nature Center we learned a lot about how trees were used in construction in the very early settler days, and how structures were built by hand, what it would have taken, and what the early settlers endured. We also got a sense of what the land was like in the late 1800s.. 

The little cabin that we were in is believed to be the first cabin built in what would later be known as Le Sueur County.  Minnesota was not yet a state and was known as The Minnesota Territory. That part of the state was still considered The Big Woods, so the most available material to build with was wood. The speaker estimated that it took approximately nine months to build an approximately  10'X14' cabin. You have to remember that Minnesota really only has about six months of decent weather,  if we are lucky. Their struggles were many, for while living out of a covered wagon, they were cutting trees with axes, shaping them with hand tools, and hoisting them manually. At the same time they would have needed to plant, nurture, harvest, and sell a crop. There were insects, famine, fires, blizzards, tornadoes, floods, and uneasy experiences with the stewards of the lands they were usurping - the Dakota People.

What those Europeans did was courageous, and they suffered greatly. They did what they knew...for good or bad...  All peoples suffered during that era. Their descendants are trying to bring reconciliation, healing. It will take time, understanding, patience, and the ability to listen, hear, and accept very differing world views.

POND CRITTERS

After the speaker at the Ney Homestead, we hiked down to a small pond and did an exercise where we scooped water into white bottomed buckets. What we saw was awe-inspiring: a pre"pond"erance of creatures and species of plant life unlike anything I've ever seen. A mere microcosm of a much larger ecosystem. Tadpoles, Damselflies, minnows. There was one with a name something like Backstroke Beatle, and it looked like it was doing just that. 

Shakespeare wrote: 

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. "
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8) Hamlet o Horatio.

 

Boy are there.

CATERPILLAR!

On our trek back to our cars, we came upon this little one. This is a Linden Looper Moth Caterpillar. This fine young one was also my first decent observation for iNaturalst, and said observation reached research grade. I know your eyes are glazing over from my nauralist geekiness, but my fellow geeks get it. :)

This is what it will grow up to be.

Photo from The Bug Guide Website

In Part 2 we'll talk waterfalls, Grosbeaks, and Bisson.