There are few things I enjoy more than a great outdoor hike on a beautiful day – a chance to observe nature at its best. I crave the small critters that scurry behind rocks. I constantly keep my eyes peeled for all things crawling, slithering, and wriggling under logs, around bends, and into holes in the ground. I love to use my detective skills to determine what lives in that hole. And it gives me great joy to meet others who also crave this same sense of nature adventure. Read below about how Alexandria Lupton, an NC State student, fills her time with nature adventure and great scientific detective work.
Alexandria has been working with Sara Gagné, the urban ecologist from UNCC this summer. Together they have put together some fantastic urban ecology blog posts to help you explore your Nature Neighborhood. You can learn more about Sara and her work here.
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Written By Alexandria Lupton, NC State Student
When I was younger, I regularly visited the creek behind my parents’ house. I loved flipping over rocks and logs to see what crawled beneath them. Flipping rocks and logs became routine; every time I had a chance to go to the woods, I would flip all the rocks I could find. I would find plenty of decomposers like pill bugs, earthworms, and many other critters underneath. Of
course there was always the worry I might flip a rock and discover a snake’s hiding place, but those moments were pretty rare – I did find small black ratsnake a few times, however they are friendly creatures that prefer keeping to themselves.
Even now, when I get longer breaks to go hiking in the mountains, there’s always this buzzing energy of all of the life around me. These days I tend to go to creeks and rivers more often to lift up rocks and look at the ecosystems under them. I have to say that while crayfish are certainly the most common find, and there are so many species of these in North Carolina, a salamander find is always golden in my book.
A couple of weeks ago I went hiking in a more remote area of NC, north of Raleigh. My cell service was very limited in this location – all the better for exploring and experiencing nature. During part of the hike, I came across a smaller creek where the water was moving surprisingly fast. After searching under a couple of rocks, I managed to see one of the largest salamanders I have ever seen in my life. The salamander was 3-4 inches long, and it was very eager to get back into its hiding place in the stream. No doubt, it was having a great time snagging waterbugs and invertebrates before I snatched it up to take a look.
You too can find a whole new world just by looking under the occasional rock or rotting log. In the video Under a Rotten Log, Megan Davis, Coordinator of Teacher Education at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, shows you the many cool and interesting animals that you are likely to find. You yourself can even go out and discover amazing and diverse ecosystems that are living right under your feet. Look under some rocks and logs and catalog them in the Rotten Log Investigation activity. If you don’t have easy access to rotten logs orrocks, you can also Make an Isopod Igloo. With just a little time, patience, and a potato in the elements, even the simplest homes can become the most lively ones.
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Thank you to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for partnering with the NC Science Trail.
