Bass in the Class
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Bass in the Class
There's something a little fishy about the students clambering along the banks
of the Contoocook River. They're from a class at Hopkinton High, taking a first-hand
look at the ecology of the river neighboring their school. Back in the campus
classroom, the students create a river simulation tank, stocked with fish and
other river creatures that were captured from the Contoocook. Students use
the tank to study their catches, giving them a more intimate knowledge of their
local watershed as well as developing awareness about the need for research
and conservation.
N.H. Fish and Game has several programs that help teachers and students learn more about watershed ecology. The Merrimack River Watershed Education Project is a water-quality monitoring program for high school students linked to schools in two states.
Watersheds are used as a framework for studying wetlands, rivers, streams,
lakes, ponds and estuaries during the Watershed Ecology Institute for Teachers
and Youth Educators. This eight-day class, offered through the USNH College
of Lifelong Learning, is taught by staff from Fish and Game, UNH Cooperative
Extension and the Audubon Society of New Hampshire. For details on these and
other Fish and Game education programs, visit
www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Education/education.htm.
Wild
Ways: Wood Duck Boxes
In the early twentieth century, New Hampshire's colorful wood ducks were in
grave danger. Their favorite wetland habitats, and their homes in tall snags
and old trees, were disappearing fast -- and the wood ducks were dying off or
moving out.
An early conservation movement to supplement wood-duck habitat with man-made nesting boxes, in combination with tightened hunting restrictions, has influenced a steady rise in populations -- indeed, you'll hardly see a wood duck these days who hasn't taken advantage of a wood duck box. Hundreds of boxes, many built, placed and tended by wildlife staff from N.H. Fish and Game, can be seen dotting wetlands throughout the state.
In this episode of Wildlife Journal, build a wood duck box with host Lisa Densmore and Ray Whittemore from Ducks Unlimited, and create a home for a needy wood duck.
Want to build and maintain a wood duck box in your area? Call N.H. Fish and
Game at 603-271-3211. The Ducks Unlimited website has more info and a diagram
for a simple, do-it-yourself wood duck box: www.ducks.org/conservation/woodduck_box.asp.
Flintlock Fever
Some do it for extra hunting days, others to reconnect with history... find out
what's behind the current craze for muzzleloaders.
Muzzleloaders, originally crafted by ironworkers who emigrated here from Germany, were state-of-the-art a couple of centuries ago. Today, though blackpowder no longer makes the difference between a dinner of venison or dandelion greens, traditionalists still love their muzzleloaders -- building and maintaining them in peak condition, making their own ammo and hunting in the way of their forefathers.
Join Wildlife Journal at the "Muster in the Mountain" camp in Jefferson, N.H., where twenty-first century frontiersmen and women congregate each year for a four-day journey into New England's rough and rustic past. Much of the event's excitement revolves around the traditional firearms -- muzzleloaders -- used by participants in various muzzle loading competitions and demonstrations.
Recent enthusiasm for muzzleloaders has been fueled in part by the development
of modern "in-line" models by Thomson/Center Arms. In-lines are favored
by folks who want to explore the world of blackpowder but aren't ready to go
all the way to the "old" technology.
Wild
Places: Esther Currier Wildlife Management Area
Wildlife Journal host Willem Lange visits Esther Currier Wildlife Management
Area at Low Plain in New London, NH, where over forty years ago beavers dammed
Chandler Brook, creating a home for themselves -- and eventually for river otters,
wood ducks and more than a hundred-fifty other kinds of wildlife that thrive
here.
Visitors to the area will find much to explore along the self-guided nature trail, including a quaking bog, a beaver lodge and a pair of observation/hunting blinds where you can scope out the wildlife. There are a couple of places to launch a canoe or kayak, as well as favorable spots for fishing and duck hunting.
Esther Currier Wildlife Management Area was named in 1994 for Esther Currier, a founding member of the New London Conservation Commission, who first saw this area's potential as a nature reserve.
Access to the area is off Route 11 in New London. It may be seen as "Low Plain
Natural Area" on older maps. Click
here to download a map of the area.
