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On the Farm: Nature & Animal Care (Grades 5-8)
January 13 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST
January 13 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST
As their name may suggest, these creatures hiss when they feel threatened. They will also push, shove, and stand on their “toes” to intimidate each other. However, hissing cockroaches are not aggressive towards people. They are quite docile, and we often let children hold them at New Pond Farm. These animals are detritivores, meaning they feed on dead and decaying matter. This trait is important for the ecosystems because they recycle nutrients into the soil. Unlike most other cockroach species, they do not have wings.
Hissing cockroaches are native to Madagascar. They are light-sensitive and can often be found hiding under rotting plant matter.
The corn snake, sometimes called red rat snake is a species of North American rat snake in the family Colubridae. The species subdues its small prey by constriction. It is found throughout the southeastern and central United State.
These beautiful snakes are non-venomous and known for their mimicry. They have the same colors as the venomous Coral Snake. The following saying will help you remember the difference: “Red next to yellow, and you’re a dead fellow. Red next to black, and you’re ok, Jack.”
These snakes are native to the arid deserts of Mexico. These snakes were often found in barns which led some farmers to believe that they were drinking milk from their cows. This of course was false, these carnivores were only interested in the mice that were hiding in the barn. Snakes are great at keeping rodent and other pest populations under control.
Did you know that some lizards can detach and then regrow their tails? Luckily, our Leopard Gecko has never needed to drop his tail, but it is a great strategy to distract predators in the wild. After getting to safety, they will begin regaining their tails. This is important because they store excess fat/energy in their tails.
They can be found in South-Central Asia’s rocky deserts and scrubby areas. While ours gecko delights in eating mealworms and wax worms, their wild counterparts will also eat crickets, grasshoppers, spiders, beetles, caterpillars, flies, and even small scorpions. Leopard geckos also opportunistically feed on smaller lizards, snakes, and newborn rodents if they stumble upon their nests.
These lizards get their name from “plates” or osteoderms that cover their body. They have a band of stretchy skin running down either side of their body which allows them a little bit of room to expand if they are about to lay eggs or have eaten a particularly big meal. They are known for confusing their predators by running really fast and then suddenly stop with their tail up in the air.
These lizards are native to the savannas of eastern Africa. They are omnivores, and are known to enjoy a salad as well as some insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, and roaches. Ours is very content to eat a hearty meal of crickets, mealworms, and wax worms.
Meet one of the locals! Eastern Painted Turtles can be found at New Pond Farm, but also throughout many different wetland habitats in the US. Like many other turtles, they have a flat, smooth shell that allows them to swim quickly through the water. You will also notice that they have webbed feet which also aids their swimming abilities. These turtles are omnivores- in the wild, they will eat aquatic plants, algae, snails, fish, insects, and crustaceans. Our turtle particularly enjoys eating crickets and mealworms. These turtles are surprisingly social and can often be seen in groups of 50!
Meet one of the locals! Eastern Painted Turtles can be found at New Pond Farm, but also throughout many different wetland habitats in the US. Like many other turtles, they have a flat, smooth shell that allows them to swim quickly through the water. You will also notice that they have webbed feet which also aids their swimming abilities. These turtles are omnivores- in the wild, they will eat aquatic plants, algae, snails, fish, insects, and crustaceans. Our turtle particularly enjoys eating crickets and mealworms. These turtles are surprisingly social and can often be seen in groups of 50!
When you visit with our Russian Tortoise you will notice that they are most active during dawn and dusk meaning they are crepuscular. Since they are indigenous to the warmer climates of the Middle East to east Asia, they are inactive during the hottest part of the day. Ours are most active when eating their gourmet salads. Russian Tortoises are herbivores whose diet consists of fruits and vegetables such as carrots, berries, lettuce, peppers, and more!
Did you know that box turtles are one of the few species of turtle that can fully close into their shells? When they feel threatened they are able to tuck their heads and legs into their shell complete with a hinge that closes shut. Our box turtles feel safe and secure in our wildlife room so you will rarely see them hiding inside their shell. We house two different subspecies: the Eastern Box Turtle and the Three-Toed Box Turtle. Eastern Box Turtles can be found in our own backyard, as well as throughout the Eastern US from Maine to Florida and as far west as Texas.
While some of our box turtles have been with us for nearly two decades, they generally live for about 35 years in the wild, but a few have lived to be a hundred years! These wonderful creatures are omnivorous. Our turtles can be found munching on lettuce, berries, peppers, and more! Our box turtles will never turn down a juicy worm. Their wild counterparts delight in eating snails, insects, berries, fungi, slugs, worms, roots, flowers, fish, frogs, salamanders, snakes, birds, and eggs. The younger box turtles often exclusively eat a carnivorous diet, while the adults are primarily herbivores and enjoy a nice salad every now and then.
An Avian Success Story: In the early 1900s European Starlings and English Sparrows were introduced into the northeast. For decades, these aggressive cavity nesters out-competed the more docile bluebirds for nest sites, so their populations were in serious decline. Environmental groups and individuals came to the rescue. Wooden nesting boxes were installed throughout the area and thankfully the Bluebirds proved to be quite adaptable, successfully raising their families in these new homes.
As you walk through our lower pastures and wildflower meadow, you may be fortunate enough to see bluebirds sitting on our nesting boxes. The males have brilliant blue plumage on their wings and back, a rusty colored breast and sides, and white undersides. The wings and back of the females are a more subtle grayish blue.
Once you learn the warbling vocalizations of these members of the thrush family, you will hear them frequently throughout your walk.
In addition to the many insects that make up their summer diet, our bluebirds feast on the berries of native shrubs throughout the fall and winter. We have planted stands of native winterberries (Ilex verticillate) and flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) to add to our native staghorn sumacs (Rhus typina), and elderberries (Sambucus nigra).
Another bird that DEEP considers a species of special concern is the Purple Martin. Once commonly seen flying over open agricultural lands across the State, these aerial acrobats have been in decline for decades due to lack of open fields and pastures, lack of suitable nesting sites, and competition from aggressive non-native European starlings and house sparrows
For several decades, conservation efforts have been in place across the State to bring back the Purple Martins, and efforts are paying off! Arrangements of specially-sized, artificial hollow gourds have been hung from tall poles in appropriate habitats. Groups like the CT Audubon Society have well established banding programs, and DEEP reports that the Martin populations are on the rise.
New Pond Farm’s pastures seem like a perfect habitat, so during the nesting season, we too have positioned an arrangement of hanging gourds near the white fence line along the pasture. If you venture over here during the early morning hours in the spring, you may hear the loop of pre-recorded twittering calls that we play in an attempt to attract any migrants. So far, we have just attracted a few scouting birds. Hopefully 2025 may be our lucky year.
Back in the 1980s, a pair of kestrels nested reliably in a box positioned in the large sugar maple along our Farm Road. These exquisite, robin-sized, falcons were an absolute joy to behold as they would soar, hover, and plunge over the pastures and lawns searching for insects, small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles.
For many years we have been without a nesting pair, and for the past several decades DEEP has listed American Kestrels as a species of special concern.
Working with Art Gingert, who is well known in the State for his decades of devotion to reestablishing nesting pairs of kestrels, we have installed a kestrel box on the eastern side of our pasture. No takers yet, but the box will be back up early in the spring, and we are hopeful.