Details:
Join Wildlife Biologist and Wetland Ecologist Tom Biebighauser and Fort Ancient staff in learning about and exploring vernal ponds. This event is family friendly and will begin with an indoor presentation on vernal ponds followed by an outdoor visit to sample the frogs, toads and salamanders living in them. Nets and guide books will be available for everyone to use. We suggest that you wear rubber boots if you have them, otherwise, your shoes could get muddy. What are vernal ponds? Vernal ponds, also called vernal pools, or ephemeral wetlands, are shallow pools of water that dry in the summer and fall. They're a unique and important ecosystem where you'll find distinctive plants and animals. Because vernal ponds don't support fish, we'll be able to capture a diversity of frogs, toads, salamanders, dragonflies and fairy shrimp that are using them. You may be interested to learn that Fort Ancient contains over 100 vernal ponds that were constructed by humans over 2,000 years ago!
