Banding Together
Today was one of those experiences I’ll replay over and over again in my mind. When I wasn’t photographing or videotaping the activities, I was participating in them right along with the youth from the Boys and Girls Club of Danville. I loved being with everyone in the park.
I learned so much! I got to hold a goose during the goose banding activity. By holding it close to your body, the goose doesn’t flap around as much. The goose I held felt warm and was slightly heavy like my 14-pound cat. The goose’s feet felt like leather. The youth were hesitant to touch them at first but all of them did and some of them held them, too. I got some great video of Brandon releasing a goose.
During the fish shocking (electric spider-like tentacles are dangled in the water to shock the fish and the shocked fish are retrieved in a net when they float to the surface alive but shocked) we were told not to touch the water or we would get electrocuted. Brandon asked our guide why the shocking doesn’t kill the fish but would kill us. The DNR instructor told us that since we are so much bigger than fish and so much of our body is water and water is a great conductor of electricity, that the electric current is too much for us but not for a small fish.
I didn’t know that poison ivy can grow up a tree as a big vine! Jacqueline showed us the three-leafed poison ivy flower on the ground and a huge thick vine that had wrapped itself around the tree. The vine had the green three-leafed poison ivy around it and that’s how we knew that the vine itself was poison ivy.
Both WICD-TV and WCIA-TV came out to interview the youth and Glynnis from Prairie Rivers Network. They all did a great job. Amy Reiter from the News-Gazette is coming out tomorrow along with a photographer to do a story.
The youth from the Club did every activity wholeheartedly. And, to my surprise, they had no problem sitting still for the meditation and breathing exercises from yoga instructor, Mary. I thought for sure they would be fidgety. They said they enjoyed the calm. So I get to drop that stereotype that youth can’t sit still!
I am so very grateful for all of the youth and the partners working with us. And John is just top-notch, he had recruited so many people from the DNR to help teach the youth. And Marc Miller, the new director of the DNR, came by special to welcome the youth. John told us that this was the first time in 20 years that a DNR director has visited Kickapoo
Tomorrow the youth get to learn gun safety and shoot at clay pigeons, take photographs, canoe and fish! I am too excited to sleep!
3 Comments on "Banding Together"
I’ll bet you slept last night!!!!
What a great two days. Thank you for organizing this project and for inviting me to join in. I had such a fun time and learned as much as the kids. I’m excited to start the next phase of the project. I sure hope we can capture the adventure on film to tell others about Kickapoo. I hope you have a relaxing weekend!
Thanks, Michelle. I’m so glad you said “yes” when I asked.
Working with you on this project is great for me both as a professional and personally (you’re like a sister when it comes to participating in these adventures in the park).
This sounds like it was so much fun! I can’t believe you got to hold a goose! That must have been such an amazing experience. I have never heard of the salmon shocking and had no idea that a human would die of it but a fish would not. Thanks for the great info!