Little River Trail Run 2012

Registration is filling up fast for the 7th Annual Trail Run to be held Saturday, January 14, 2012. The run features a 10 mile as well as a 7k course again this year. The 10 mile course usually runs the Ridge Trail, North River Loop and most of the single-track mountain bike trails. The 7k course follows the North River Loop trail, portions of the South River Loop trail and a section of the beginners mountain bike trail.

Since parking for large events can be a challenge at the park, participants are encouraged to carpool. A raffle will be held for vehicles that come with four or more occupants.

The Trailheads, who organize the event, will again be donating a portion of the proceeds to the park. More information can be found on the Trailheads website:  http://www.trailheads.org/lrtr/index.html.

Last year saw a challenging course after a snow/ice storm covered the trails and brought down a number of trees. The year before it was really, really cold. What's in store for this year? The forecast looks like temperatures in the upper 40's for race day. Keep your fingers crossed!

Bird Suet Recipes

 



Woodpeckers enjoying a suet snack.

A great family activity and one of our favorites for winter programs at the park, making suet treats for the birds is easy and can attract a variety of wildlife to your yard. Here are a few recipes to try but the best thing about suet is that you can experiment with many different ingredients and the measurements don't have to be exact. If you don't have a suet cage, you can use something like an old yogurt container or even a muffin tin for a mold, place a string or pipe cleaner in the middle of the container with enough hanging out so that you can tie it to a branch, add the mix and freeze.





"Little River Blend" Bird Suet Recipe

1 cup chunky peanut butter

2 cups cornmeal

2 cups quick cook oats (uncooked)

1 cup lard

1 cup flour

Optional: bird seed, raisins, nuts, dried fruit, pretzels

Melt lard and peanut butter together and stir. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Pour the mixture into a square container about 1-1/2 inches thick. Allow it to cool, then cut it into squares and store in the freezer.

Audubon Society  Suet Blend

2 lb. Lard*

6 c. Cornmeal

3 c. Wheat flour

4 c. Oatmeal

2 c. Peanut hearts

Soften the lard to room temperature. Stir in the other ingredients a couple of cups at a time until the mixture is quite thick.  Freeze the mixture in tuna cans or plastic tubs about 4 inches by 4 inches in size.

*Audubon Society recommends not substitute shortening for lard.

It Must be Love  Suet Blend

1/2 pound lard

1/3 cup black oil sunflower seed

2/3 cup mixed wild bird seed

1/8 cup chopped pecans or peanuts

1/4 cup raisins

Melt the lard in a crock pot, microwave or stove.  While suet is cooling, stir ingredients together in a large bowl. Place the suet into the mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour or pack into molds, feeders, or any household item. Refrigerate until hardened or freeze.

Bird Bread Machine Fruit Nut Bran Bread

2 1/2  cups bread flour

1 tablespoon dry milk

1/4 cup bran flakes or raisin bran

1/4 cup dried fruit bits

1 cup water

1 teaspoon dry yeast

Bake this fruit bread recipe in a bread machine in BAKE LIGHT MODE. When cooled, hollow out the loaf. (Save the bread to add to a different suet recipe.) Melt a suet cake until it is sticky not hot. Mix in a little birdseed then pour into bread cavity. Put in refrigerator to set the suet. Place in a dish for the birds to enjoy.

Little River Guides: Tracks & Scat

Animal Signs

Wild animals leave clues where ever they go. A series of paw prints in the dirt are an alluring sign of an animal that was recently in that same place. Scat tells not only what animal happened along that trail, but also what the animal was eating and possibly where it had been. A stick with chew marks or antler rubbings show an animal has been in the area even if the ground does not reveal tracks.

Getting Started

Tracking animals is both a science and an art. Measuring, cataloging and identifying a set of tracks can be challenging. Following those tracks back to a den or the animal that made them can be exciting.

Look in areas where animals are likely to have been: deer grazing in a field, raccoons fishing along a river bank. Look for the signs they may have left. Check the ground after a good rain or fresh snowfall. The clearest tracks are often left in wet dirt. Bring a camera, ruler, notebook and an ID guide. Practice measuring, recording and identifying what you find. Being able to recognize a good track will help when you find ones that are not as clear.

Advanced Tracking

Once you are familiar with locating and identifying animal tracks, you can begin to look more deeply into the story that they are telling. Is the animal foraging for food? Is it running or walking? How heavy is it? Is it young or old?

The size and shape of a track will often help identify the type of animal but if you are lucky enough to find a series of tracks, you may be able to get a complete picture of that animal. The pattern (gait) those tracks make can tell you if the animal was looking for food, walking or running. The distance between tracks (stride) and the width (straddle) of the set of tracks can tell you how big it is. How deep the track is may give you a clue as to how much the animal weighs.

Animals are often classified as to how they move: walkers move smoothly on their toes and leave only one set of prints since they place their back foot directly where their front foot has been. Waddlers move both feet on one side of their body, one at a time, and then shift their weight to move each foot on the other side. Hoppers and bounders spring from their rear legs sometimes leaving no tracks with their front feet.

Scat and Other Signs

There are many other clues besides footprints that animals leave behind:  animal droppings (scat), vegetation markings and nests are but a few.

Herbivores such as rabbits and deer leave pellets that are uniform in size and texture. The size of the pellets helps determine different species and size of the animal.

Larger scat that contains hair, bones, and/or seeds is left by carnivores and omnivores. Coyotes, foxes and weasels leave scat that has tapered ends. Skunks and bobcats have scat with blunt ends.

Claw markings or horn rubbings on tree trunks, scrapes in the soil and leaf litter and broken stems are other signs that indicate an animal was in the area.

Some animals that live in or near water may leave few signs behind. Beavers and muskrats will leave chewed sticks while the only evidence of an otter may be the slides they leave along stream banks.

Species Spotlight: Common Mullein

 

 

A reproduction of a painting
by the Swedish botanist C. A. M. Lindman (1856–1928)



   Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is known by many names including Great Mullein, Woolly Mullein or Velvet Mullein. It is a member of the figwort family and is native to Europe, Northern Africa and temperate Asia. It was introduced to North America early in the 18th century and cultivated for its medicinal properties. By 1818, it had become so widespread that botanist Amos Eaton mistook it for a native plant and by 1876 it had been recorded as far west as California.

Photo: Forest & Kim Starr



 The plant grows in two stages: the first year it produces a dense rosette of long, broad leaves at ground level. In the second year the plant will usually produce a single long stem which can grow as tall as 7 feet. The end of the stem is densely covered with  yellow flowers that can occupy as much as half its length. Common Mullein's most distinctive feature is its soft, hairy leaves, some between 6 to 19 inches long and 5 inches wide. The leaves grow alternately up the stem and become smaller in size as they ascend. In the western parts of the United States, the plant is sometimes referred to as Cowboy Toilet Paper. 



Photo: Forest & Kim Starr



 The flowers are about 1/2 to 1 inch across and have five bright yellow, rounded petals.  Flowering can last up to three months beginning as early as June but more typically in August. Flowers at the bottom of the stem open first and proceed to open upwards a few at a time. The flowers remain open for about a day. Each flower produces a small seed pod that splits in half to disperse numerous tiny, brown seeds. Each seed pod can contain over 700 seeds. After flowering, the plant will usually die drying to a dark brown color though the stem will remain upright through to the spring.



 Common Mullein can grow in a variety of habitats including roadsides, uncultivated fields, banksides and forest clearings. They frequently colonize bare and disturbed areas preferring dry, sandy, gravelly or chalky soils and sunny locations. Seeds will germinate on bare ground at temperatures above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Though they will sprout in areas where vegetation already exists, the first-year rosette will grow much more rapidly without competition. Seeds can remain able to germinate for several decades, possibly even for over a hundred years.



 Since it does not grow well in cultivated areas, Verbascum thapsus is not considered an agricultural threat. Though in areas that are overgrazed and in the western United States, where vegetation is sparse to begin with, it can crowd out native grasses. It also frequently appears as one of the first plants to grow after forest fires and can interfere with normal ecological succession. Removal by hand is the easiest way to control the Common Mullein. Herbicides are often ineffectual because of the dense hairs on the leaves. These hairs also make it undesirable for grazing animals. Bare areas should be replanted to prevent it from growing back.

Photo: Stan Shebs

  The Common Mullein is used by a variety of insects and animals. Some bees use the hairs on the leaves to help make their nests. The American Goldfinch will eat their seeds. Other birds are known to eat their leaves or flowers and also pick insects from the flower heads. The plant serves as host for pests and beneficial insects alike. Pests include species of thrips, spider mites and the Mullein Moth. While beneficial insects include the minute pirate bug and the mullein plant bug.

 The plant has been used for thousands of years by humans as a remedy for breathing and skin ailments. It has traditionally been used to treat asthma, coughs, bronchitis, burns, bruises, gout, hemorrhoids, and diarrhea. Native Americans quickly adopted the Mullein plant's medicinal uses after in was introduced from Europe. The Appalachians used Mullein to treat colds and croup. The leaves applied topically were said to soften and protect the skin. The oil from the flowers was used to treat earaches.

 Romans used the flowers to make hair dye and the dried flower stems were dipped in wax to be used as torches. Dried leaves were used as tinder and stuffed into shoes for insulation. The plant is also believed to have the power to ward off evil spirits, Ulysses took Mullein on his journey to protect himself from Circe.

Big Sweep Hauls In Big Trash





Big Sweep Help from Boy Scout Troop 820.



The NC Big Sweep celebrated 25 years of environmental stewardship this month. What began as a hastily planned coastal cleanup in 1987 has grown into an international effort to get rid of litter and educate the public about the hazards of trash. Over 1,000 people participated that first year, picking up over 14 tons of trash from the waterways just along the North Carolina Coast. Now the Big Sweep's efforts extend to the entire environment not just our waterways. Since it's inception, the Sweep has collected over 10.3 million pounds of trash with the help of more than 300,000 volunteers.



Over a dozen bags of old bottles and cans.

Little River had its Big Sweep on October 1 with over a dozen volunteers pitching in to help remove nearly 600 pounds of trash and debris. Armed with black trash bags and work gloves, volunteers from UNC and the Boy Scouts filled over a dozen trash bags in only two hours. Much of what was collected was refuse of previous landowners: glass bottles, rusting cans, and even an old refrigerator. There were two areas targeted in this years sweep: a section of the birding trail near the large picnic shelter and along the South River Loop trail near marker #70. Broken glass and rusted metal could be seen in the woods from the trail. Volunteers encountered two black rat snakes among the debris, one of which was curled tightly in a tin can.  



Old refrigerator and other debris.



Litter can cause a whole range of problems for everyone in the community - human and wildlife alike. Animals can become entangle in litter and unable to free themselves. Or they may mistake litter for food. Plastic litter can choke or suffocate birds and marine animals. Discarded containers can trap small animals. Litter also attracts rodents and mosquitoes which may carry diseases posing a human health hazard. Chemicals may leach from litter and pollute our ground water. Litter looks ugly and costs money to remove.

Welcome to the Little River Park Blog

For several years the park has produced a quarterly newsletter, The River Rambler, as a way of providing information to visitors and members of the community about park events, news and other items of interest. This blog will keep to that same format with hopefully some of the added benefits that come with online publishing.

Thanks for stopping by and we look forward to seeing you here at the park.