Our Mission: The Friends of Mosquito Hill support, promote and enhance View Mosquito Hill Nature Center. We realize this mission through from the volunteerism, fundraising and Hill our shared passion for nature. WINTER 2012-2013 • A newsletter for friends and members of Friends of Mosquito Hill, Inc.
Winter Family Fun Day Packed With Family-Fun Events Mike Hibbard, Director
fter the snowshoe races, join Pie-eating contest. Young children are sure to meet the dogs and their mushers. This us from noon until 3:00 PM on to enjoy sliding down the otter slide and is a great way to learn more about this AJanuary 26 for a host of family- making a winter craft. Enjoy a leisurely thrilling winter sport. friendly activities at the annual Mosquito snowshoe hike with your family. When Hill Winter Family Fun Day. Participate you return, warm yourself by the crackling Hot food and beverages will be for sale, in the exciting snow-filled games for fun campfire and roast some marshmallows so bring your entire family for lunch and and prizes. Try your hand at ice bowling while sharing stories of the day. stay for the afternoon. The cost is just and the slap shot contest on Frog Pond, $8.00 per carload and includes snowshoe and don’t miss the ever-popular Eskimo This year’s event will again feature a dog rental. Don’t be left out in the cold, join sled demonstration and an opportunity us for this “hot” event. v
27th Annual Mosquito Hill Snowshoe Race…Again Jessica Miller, Assistant Naturalist
f you will recall, last year’s snow surprised if she throws us another curve problem. We have a race for that—an conditions were meager at best. While ball like last winter. So, we will, with full- 800-meter fun run for kids, that is. Fees Imany northerners were thrilled with out optimism and enthusiasm, offer our range between $15 and $25. What a deal above average temperatures and below 27th Annual Mosquito Hill Snowshoe for a day of fun! v average snow levels, we were not. Most Race again in 2013. The date is of our snow-related programs were January 26 and coincides with Submitted Photo cancelled and that included our annual Winter Family Fun Day. All racers snowshoe race. Twenty-six years and will receive a meal & beverages, counting, this race is one of Wisconsin’s admission to Winter Family Fun longest (consecutive) running snowshoe Day, a goodie bag including a t- races in the state…or at least, it was. shirt, prizes to the top finishers and Due to paltry snowfall, open water in a chance to win a pair of Northern the lowlands and lots of ice, we cancelled Lites Elite racing snowshoes the 27th annual race. Safety trumped (www.northernlites.com). Racers continuity. can choose a 1, 3, or 5-mile route that winds through our scenic I’m not going to predict what Mother lowland forest and skirts the Wolf Nature has in store for us, but I’ll be River. Have a child in tow? No
Be sure to check our website www.mosquitohill.com and Facebook page www.facebook.com/MosquitoHillNatureCenter for race registration forms and updates on the day’s activities. There’s a New Cat in Town Mary Swifka, Staff Assistant Photo courtesy of WI DNR
n October of 2011, Sue & Marv Baroun, Town of Dale, is incredibly elusive and rarely seen. They’re active between stopped into the nature center and told us an amazing twilight and midnight and then again at dawn, hunting rabbits Istory. After dark on the evening of October 8, they had and snowshoe hares. They also have a taste for whitetail deer been driving north of Dale on County Highway T, when a and smaller mammals though their preference appears to be for medium-sized animal darted out in front of their vehicle. The rabbit-sized furbearers. animal was hit, but after stopping their car and doing a cursory search of the road, they found no evidence of the animal. They Bobcats are about twice the size of a common house cat and returned home a short distance away, called the Outagamie usually weigh in the 20 pound range, although some males have County Sheriff’s Department and Marv returned to the sight of topped out at 40 pounds. They prefer heavily-forested areas the collision to meet the deputy. Concerned about the animal’s but adapt to a variety of habitats. The bobcat is closely related well-being, they searched the road and then walked into the to the Canada lynx and is often confused with it. The bobcat is brush on the side of the highway. About 100 yards from the the smaller of the two, its ear tufts are not as prominent and foot site, under a clump of trees, the deputy came upon the carcass prints are much smaller than those of the lynx. of the mystery creature: a bobcat. Wisconsin DNR wildlife biologists estimate the bobcat Thanks to the Barouns’ generosity and taxidermy service by population at 2,800 to 3,000 in the northern third of Wisconsin. Brett Zitzelsberger, Appleton, that bobcat is now on display in Eric Anderson, a UW-Stevens Point wildlife ecology professor our interpretive building. thinks there may be 6,000 to 7,000 bobcats in the state. For an interesting story on bobcat research in Wisconsin, check Although bobcats, named for their stubby “bobbed” tail, are the out this 2010 article from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: most abundant wild feline in Wisconsin and North America, it www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/88787007.html. v
BOARD: Interpretive Building Hours: WINTER 2012-2013 Andy Buckoski, Schenk, SC, Appleton, Treasurer Tuesday-Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m Jennifer Goggins, Kimberly-Clark Corp., Neenah Saturday & Sunday: 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Rebecca McClone, Donaldson’s Gourmet & Gifts, STAFF: Hortonville & Book World, New London Mike Hibbard, Director/Naturalist View Pete Nagan, Retired Teacher, Neenah Steve Petznick, Assistant Naturalist from the Jim Olson, Wolf River Community Bank, Hortonville Jessica Miller, Assistant Naturalist Hill Tiffany Schulz, New London School District Mary Swifka, Staff Assistant Tammy Stille, Educator, Black Creek Chris Brandt, Outagamie County Parks Director VOL XXXVIII • NO 4 Chris Worzalla, Kimberly-Clark Corp., Neenah, Pat Lund-Moe, Volunteer Coordinator FOMH Board President Dave Wuebben, Hortonville Area School District NEWSLETTER: Editors - Pat Brown, Ginny Buschke, ADDRESS CORRESPONDENCE TO: Susan Hankin, Mary Swifka View From The Hill is published Friends of Mosquito Hill Layout & Design - Jennifer Heisler four times per year by N3880 Rogers Road • New London WI 54961 NEW Printing, Appleton Friends of Mosquito Hill, Inc. (920) 779-6433 • www.mosquitohill.org Outlook Graphics, Neenah
VIEW FROM THE HILL 2 WINTER 2012-2013 Alice Zeiss s we Always Remembered n e a r the end A he family of Alice Zeiss established a planting at the of 2012, the board of directors of FOMH and the nature center this summer in her memory. Alice, the staff of MHNC wish all of you T a very happy and peaceful holiday co-founder season. In the spirit of giving, won’t of Mosquito you please consider a holiday or end-of- Hill Nature year contribution to Friends of Mosquito Center, had a Hill? Consider honoring someone with a gift love of nature membership or by purchasing a brick on the All and a desire to People’s Trail to provide a permanent tribute to share it with that special someone. young people. After she Your tax-deductible donation may be made passed away to FOMH, Inc. and mailed to Mosquito Hill in July, her Nature Center, N3880 Rogers Road, New family chose Photo by Steve Petznick London WI 54961. We’re enthusiastic about to remember starting 2013 on strong financial footing to her with this ensure vibrant programming and volunteer gift to the nature center. Located between the parking lot and support. Thank-you very much. We are grateful the interpretive building, Alice’s favorite tree, a mountain ash, for your generosity. v and three viburnum shrubs were selected to benefit birds.v
Pollinator Gardens Blossom at the Hill
Through Sunday, December 30 Perspective on Nature Photography by Gale (Stosh) Wandke Gale Wandke is a New London photographer who taught Photo by Mike Hibbard elementary physical education in the New London school district. His interest in photography goes back many years his summer, staff and volunteers installed two pollinator beginning with photos of family trips and activities. It gardens near the honeybee observation hives next became a more serious hobby in the 1980s when he began Tto the All People’s Trail. These garden plots feature attending photography classes, seminars and workshops. native plants that attract important pollinators including bees, Gale uses a Nikon F100 camera with a Nikkor lens (70- butterflies and hummingbirds. The plantings were made 300), a Nikkor (18-35) close-up lens and tripod. Being from possible by a Natural Landscaping for Tomorrow grant awarded the “old school”, he uses film rather than a digital camera. by the WILD Ones-Fox Valley Chapter. Educational signage He does all his own framing and matting. An avid flower was funded by the John Huppler memorial and the Waupaca gardener, many of Gale’s photos are taken in his own yard. County Beekeepers Association covered additional installation While most of his photographs have been taken in Wisconsin, there are also images from throughout the United States, expenses. Thank you to everyone whose generosity made these especially the western U.S. gardens possible. v
VIEW FROM THE HILL 3 WINTER 2012-2013 Mosquito Hill Nature Center CALENDAR OF EVENTS WINTER 2012-2013 Unless otherwise noted, advance registration and payment are required. Call 920.779.6433 or e-mail [email protected] Website: www.mosquitohill.com
out our smaller shoes for age four and older, Candlelight Snowshoe Walk Find us on Facebook — or bring a sled to pull your toddlers. a great place to check on Snowshoe Rental: $3.50/adults, $2.50/students & Saturday, January 12 and the day-to-day happenings seniors; FOMH: no charge Saturday, February 16, 6:30 - 9:00 PM at MHNC. Trail Use: no charge. www.facebook.com/mosquitohillnaturecenter Enjoy this self-led Leave No Family Inside: excursion through the Introduction to Essential Oils, Part 1 Wisconsin’s Owls nature center’s lowland forest. Refreshments will Sunday, December 2, 1:00 – 3:00 PM Saturday, January 5, 6:00 – 8:00 PM be served and all snowshoe equipment will be provided. A $2 discount is available to Essential oils are natural aromatic Listening to the hooting of participants who bring their own snowshoes. compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, owls has to be one of life’s $8/adults, $5/students, seniors, FOMH or $25/ roots and flowers of plants. In addition to most special pleasures. family their intrinsic benefits to plants and being Learning more about Registration and payment due 1 week prior to beautifully fragrant to people, essential Wisconsin’s owls gives event . oils have been used throughout history those hoot calls even more in many cultures for their medicinal and meaning. Join naturalist 27th Annual Mosquito Hill Snowshoe therapeutic benefits. This class will touch Jessica Miller and staff Race & Winter Family Fun Day on the science behind the oils, while from The Feather Rehabilitation Center, demonstrating different uses for a variety of New London, as they introduce you to owl Saturday, January 26 common ailments. Attendees will have the biology and a number of live owls during an opportunity to sample different oils topically, indoor presentation. Afterwards they will See front page article internally and aromatically. Since we are take you on an outdoor journey in search of entering the holiday season, class instructor these vocalizing nocturnal wonders. Nikki Poppe will also give ideas on how to $6/person or $10/household Mosquito Hill Kicks Off Third Thursday Lecture Series use essential oils in homemade gifts. Registration and payment due December 29. Cost: $5 per person We’re often Registration and payment due ASAP. Serious Snowshoe Sundays asked by visitors: Shiocton Christmas Bird Count Sundays, January & February, “Have you ever thought 12:00 noon – 3:00 PM Friday, December 14, about doing a program 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM Are you serious about getting in about _____ shape this winter? Don’t want to ?” Well, we’ve taken your ideas and rolled Take a break from the do it by yourself? Snowshoeing them into a series of educational programs holiday hustle and join is a great cardiovascular to be held on the third Thursday of each nature center staff and workout. Naturalists Jessica month from 9:30 – 11:00 AM. Grab a cup volunteers for a day in the Miller and Mary Swifka will of coffee or tea and a light snack as you field counting birds. We’ll guide participants each week, enjoy the presentation by Mosquito Hill break for a potluck lunch, not for a leisurely hike, but for naturalists and guest speakers. always featuring warm a bout of invigorating exercise, Cost is $6/person, $4/students, seniors & soups and yummy desserts. Call ahead if you increasing our speed and distance FOMH. Registration and payment due one would like to take part. as the weeks progress. Four week prior to program. of the sessions will start with an indoor Snowshoe Trails Open and Rentals program including proper winter attire, No Place but UP!, by Lance Fox hydration, preventing hypothermia or Available (when conditions permit) fatigue, purchasing snowshoes and more. January 17 A snowshoe hike will follow. If snow About Fox’s 2009 summit of Mt. Everest Weekends, January - March, conditions are not adequate, a brisk walk 9:30 AM – 2:00 PM will be substituted. A light snack and warm The Attraction of Wood Ducks, beverage will be included each week. by Steve Jordan Please call ahead to check on snow $5/session or $30/for all 8 classes. Price includes February 21 conditions and availability of rentals during snowshoe rental, if needed. 30 years of stories and tips about raising the week. Families with young children: try Registration and payment due December 28. wood ducks.
VIEW FROM THE HILL 4 WINTER 2012-2013 Leave No Family Inside: Leopold Education Project Musky Magic Snowshoeing for Beginners Workshop Sunday, March 17, 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM Saturday, February 2, 12:30 – 2:30 PM Saturday, March 2, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM Our featured What better way to get out The Leopold speakers are Mike and enjoy our Wisconsin Education Project Hulbert, a musky winters than to experience (LEP) is an fishing guide from it on snowshoes. Join environmental Ft. Wayne, IN and naturalist Jessica Miller curriculum Dan Lazzeroni, as she guides you through based on the Laona, WI guide, the easy process of learning classic writings both talking about their favorite fish. A mini how to snowshoe. A guided hike around the of the renowned seminar will be presented by Kevin Pischke, nature center property will give you some conservationist a Green Bay guide. Vendors, pool-side practice with the new footgear and a chance Aldo Leopold. demonstrations, food sales, raffles and more to learn about our winter world. Activities follow the chapters in Leopold’s A are planned for this daylong musky fishing $6/person or $10/household Sand County Almanac. Each participant will expo. Admission is $8/adults and $6/youth Registration and payment due January 25. receive a copy of A Sand County Almanac, 14 years and younger. This event is held at Lessons in a Land Ethic curriculum, TASK the New London Middle School, 1000 W. Thelon River Expedition: cards, the new Exploring the Outdoors with Washington St. A Dream Come True Aldo Leopold curriculum on CD and a wealth of usable handouts (a $50+ value). This Saturday, February 2, 1:00 – 3:00 PM workshop is perfect for K-12 educators, natural resource professionals, 4-H or scout Join Don Baumgartner and Jean Klein as leaders, and anyone interested in learning they travel down the Thelon River in the more about fostering a relationship between Northwest Territories and Nunavit in the kids and the natural world. Canadian arctic. Discover how they planned $25/person, also includes snacks, beverages and their own wilderness river trip without a screening of the Aldo Leopold documentary, the use of an outfitter or guide. Join them Green Fire. on their adventure as they share stories Registration and payment due February 22. and pictures of their journey. They will be displaying some of the gear used on their Green Fire Movie Screening expedition. CANCELLATION POLICY $6/adults, $4/students, seniors, FOMH Saturday, March 2, 12:00 noon Registration and payment due January 25. Unfortunately, MHNC is not Green Fire, the first full- immune to the current economic Essential Oils and Children, Part 2 length, high definition challenges. Therefore, we find it documentary film ever necessary to adhere fully to the Saturday, February 9, 1:00 – 3:00 PM made about legendary following policy: conservationist Aldo With the school year Leopold, explores his MHNC staff reserves the right in full force, children life in the early part of the twentieth century to cancel a program if minimum are bringing home enrollment has not been met by the every virus and and the many ways his bacteria imaginable, land ethic idea continues registration deadline. If we need to leaving parents and to be applied all over the cancel a program, your payment siblings susceptible world today. The film will be refunded in full. If you need to illness. Essential shares highlights from Leopold’s personal to cancel, please notify us at least 48 oils have been life and extraordinary career, explaining hours before the class. If we are able proven to be effective how he shaped conservation in the twentieth century and still inspires people today. to fill your spot, you will be refunded against colds and flu, even as a preventive in full; if not, we will refund 50% of or immunity booster. Children respond well Although probably best known as the author to this natural form of healthcare that offers of the conservation classic A Sand County your fee. If you cancel less than 48 no side effects, no fear of overdose, and no Almanac, Leopold is also renowned for his hours before the class, your entire conflict with already prescribed medications. work as an educator, philosopher, forester, registration fee will be forfeited. This class will educate you on how to use ecologist and wilderness advocate. essential oils safely with children. Combat No charge Please help us ensure the success cuts and scrapes, colds and coughs, vomiting of our programs by registering and and diarrhea, even the flu, all by using paying before the deadline. We essential oils. cannot guarantee your place in a class Cost: $5 per person unless payment has been received. Registration and payment due February 1. Thank you for understanding.
VIEW FROM THE HILL 5 WINTER 2012-2013 Argiope aurantia is in the family Araneidae, also called orbweavers. These spiders are best known for their intricate circular (orb) Ask the Naturalist webs. While there are dozens of species of orbweaver spiders, Jessica Miller, Assistant Naturalist “my” yellow garden argiope sports a fantastic zigzag pattern, called a stabilimentum, down the center of her web. Although scientists are not exactly sure what this structure is used for, some believe that it gives the web stability, prevents larger What a Tangled Web animals such as birds from flying into and damaging the web, or attracts insects to the web. The female argiope hangs head She Weaves down, waiting for unsuspecting prey to enter her lair. When they do, the show begins! She rushes in, grabs hold of her victim, and feverishly wraps it up like a silken mummy to be consumed Picture from very autumn I at a later time. Argiopes consume many a grasshopper, fly, wasp www.bugguide.net walk through the and bee species. Enature center’s prairie searching high Male argiope spiders are dwarfed by their female counterparts. and low for one of my She can grow to over 2 inches in length (legs included) while most favorite encounters he is barely a quarter of that. Once mated, he will go off to die of the season. It’s not a and she will get to work preparing for her offspring. Capable of late blooming flower, not laying up to 4 egg sacs, each containing upwards of 1400 eggs, an elusive mammal nor the dedicated mother will hang the sacs near her web where a songbird preparing for migration. It’s an orbweaver spider. she can keep a few watchful eyes on them before perishing The spider I’m most fond of is the yellow garden argiope (ar- after the first hard frost of the season. Her brood hatches in jie-o-pee), a spectacular, and quite large, yellow, black and early fall but remains inside the silken cocoon until spring. In white beauty. Trust me, if you saw her, you would be just as Wisconsin, females live about one year, but in warmer climates, impressed as I. they may live several years. v
Submitted Photo Submitted Photo
The Warrior Princess Mud Run drew more than 1300 participants to MHNC on October 6. Wish List • Sponsors for Winter Family Fun Day or Harvest Moon Festival • New Waupaca and/or Outagamie County plat books • Bottle corks (real cork, not artificial) • Fiskars pruning saws (6) • Crickets & worms to feed educational frogs & salamander Please contact staff for details on brand, size, amounts, etc. or how you Our volunteer, Trevor, greeted visitors to Honey Sunday on September 16. Thanks Trevor, for being may make a contribution to purchase any of these items. Thanks! such a friendly honeybee mascot.
VIEW FROM THE HILL 6 WINTER 2012-2013 The Volunteer Voice You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give. – Winston Churchill
Our Legacy Secondly, become a member of Friends of Mosquito Hill. FOMH provides support to our volunteer program, publishes Pat Lund-Moe, Volunteer Coordinator the newsletter and gives the extras that are being trimmed each n 1974, our founders Alice Zeiss and Jane Williams gave all year from the county budget. of us a wonderful gift by advocating for the establishment Another way to show your support is to give to the center in of Mosquito Hill Nature Center as a part of the Outagamie I honor of someone. Sponsor a wood duck house, purchase seed County Parks system. What can we do to continue their work? or birdfeeders for our bird watching area, fund interpretive How can we help others appreciate the gift we’ve all been signage for displays and trails, donate to the school bus given? transportation fund, buy a pair of snowshoes or cover the First of all, come on out and volunteer. Invite someone to postage for one newsletter issue. Purchase a raffle prize for our volunteer with you. Volunteering as a family teaches a life lesson Spring Fever Fundraiser or become a sponsor of our Harvest and can plant the seeds for a family tradition. Your gift of time Moon Festival or Snowshoe Race. can support one of our citizen based monitoring projects, our The torch has been passed from Alice and Jane to us. We owe Adopt-a-Highway clean-up, one of our many public programs it to them to keep the torch burning long and bright. v and much more. Mud Run A Success! he first ever Warrior Princess Mud Run was held here on October 6. Harbor House Domestic Abuse TPrograms sponsored this unique event, creating a wonderful partnership for a great cause. Our volunteers worked the concession stand all day, raising money and making sure all runners realized what a beautiful place they happened upon. Thank you volunteers! You make our special place on earth that much more special. v Submitted Photo
Contact Volunteer Coordinator Pat Lund-Moe Volunteer Opportunities email: [email protected] Phone: 920-779-6433 Now is the time to grab a spot. Volunteer for these opportunities and many others!
Winter Family Fun Day and Snowshoe Races are on January 26. Outreach and Planning: Help us get the word out through our Grab a volunteer spot and have some fun. booth at events in the area. As we plan for our annual banquet, we are looking for assistance in all aspects of this event. We’d love to Snowshoe Rental: We offer snowshoe rentals to our visitors each hear your ideas and value your contacts in the community. Other weekend. For each shift you work, you earn free rental for yourself. events will be planned during the slower winter months---let us (It will snow this year, right?) know if you’d like to be a part of the excitement in creating new experiences for our guests. Office Coverage: We often need a volunteer to staff the office. You’ll answer the phone and greet visitors. It’s a fairly peaceful way to spend Volunteer Naturalists: If you like the outdoors and enjoy being your time and know that you’re providing a needed service as well. with kids, give it a try. You can train with staff and other volunteers through shadowing, team teaching, and enrichment sessions. It’s a great group to be with, no matter what the season.
VIEW FROM THE HILL 7 WINTER 2012-2013 Published by Friends of Mosquito Hill, Inc. NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE Mosquito Hill Nature Center PAID N3880 Rogers Rd. • New London, WI 54961 APPLETON, Wl www.mosquitohill.org (Friends of Mosquito Hill) PERMIT NO. 46 www.mosquitohill.com (Mosquito Hill Nature Center)
Return Service Requested