Exploring neighbourhood ponds was a favourite boyhood past-time of mine. Maybe I was enticed by the abundance of tracks I could add to my plaster cast collection. Maybe I was lured by the challenge of risking a dragonfly's "fatal" sting as I attempted to discover why, in flight, it made the sound of a bike wheel with baseball cards clothespinned against it. Or perhaps my mother was right: I have a natural pre-dilection for mud.
My early interest grew into a study of wetlands ecology, and I still find "ponding" great fun.
Large water bodies are often called lakes, while a small puddle is considered a pond, but size is not always the defining factor.
A lake is usually very deep and has barren or sparsely vegetated shores. Because light does not penetrate to lower depths, water-stabilizing submersed plant growth is suppressed. Wave action is greater, with the result that growth which might brace the shore is eroded away.
Generally, ponds are no more than 4.5 metres (15 ft.) deep. As a result, aquatic plants can grow from one side to the other. Sedges and rushes collect and hold back soil runoff. Wetlands vegetation expands and provides food and shelter for a multitude of invertebrates, insects and larger animals.
As ponds fill with organic debris, they are slowly transformed into marshes covered with extensive growth and, finally, into swamps where trees are able to grow.
Bogs, on the other hand, are low in nutrients, highly acidic and dominated by sphagnum moss.
A pond offers endless opportunities for finding many different wetlands life forms. To collect and study pond life, you need to take along a certain amount of gear.
Dip nets come in all varieties and prices. You can make the simplest and most efficient dip net by taping or bolting a fine meshed kitchen sieve to a sturdy dowel, one metre in length. The net is light and inexpensive, and the basket will hold quite a lot before bendng.
It's wise to have leaders carry the nets to the pond because boys tend to turn them into tree-swatters. You can skim the pond surface or gently probe the mucky bottom with the net but, if you use it for digging, you'll break the basket.
Rubber boots or old runners allow boys to get wet without serious consequences. Tell them to avoid tramping into the pond because that will stir up mud and make underwater observing near impossible.
Once you've collected a sample with your net, look through it for duckweed. insects, snails and other creatures. Examine the catch further by spreading it in the shallow pan you've brought. Turn the net upside down and pour water over it to "backflush" out any remains.
Remove items of particular interest with the spoon and place them into baby food jars partially filled with water for group study. Use the magnifying glass (with lanyard to prevent accidental loss into the pond) and field guide to help you identify your specimens.
Water scopes are nice to have along, because they allow boys to observe the pond life under the blinding surface glare. Beavers can construct a very simple scope from a frozen juice can with both ends removed. Put clear plastic wrap over one end and secure with rubber bands. Older Scouts can tape clear plastic over one of the open ends of a stove pipe or a number 10 can.
As they observe pond species, remind Scouts about the importance of respecting wildlife. Insects are fragile and will not take much handling. Dry, rough hands will tear a frog's skin, which needs to be kept constantly moist for underwater breathing.
Unless your group is involved with a supervised summer camp nature program or an environmental outdoor center, leave your specimens at the pond after you've studied them. Pond aquariums are superb for in-depth teaching but, if you bring back specimens, a leader is left with the responsibility for the daily care of the aquarium.
Scouts can learn an important lesson by observing species and returning them unharmed when the study is finished. Collected species rightfully belong in the pond and are no happier to be plucked up from their homes and moved than boys would be. By releasing animals, Scouts gain a positive feeling that they are helping the environment, and will look forward to their next ponding expedition.
I've said this in other articles in the Leader, but it's worth saying again. You don't need to name everything you find. The most important thing is to understand how it fits into the web of life. To give you an idea and keep your interest alive, I've made some ponding notes you won't find in field guides.
That ersatz confection known as the marshmallow takes its name from a beneficial swamp plant. The sweet roots of Alfhaea officianalis or Marsh Mallow, were once used to make a fine candy.
Cattails and bulrushes have tuberous roots capable of absorbing more nutrients than the plant needs. They quickly assimilate water pollutants such as phosphate detergents, road oil, chemicals and heavy metals, and prevent them from shocking the aquatic system.
Cattails also secrete a natural antibiotic and mosquito larvicide (poison to mosquito larvae). As a result, in undisturbed wetlands, fecal bacteria found in sewage and noxious insect pests are inhibited.
Water striders stay on top of the pond film because they have greasy feet. To illustrate this principle, fill a glass with water from the tap and gently place a paper clip on the surface. It will sink. Remove the clip, generously coat it with margarine, and carefully put it back on the surface of the water. Voila, the clip floats.
Green Darners were originally called the Devil's Darning Needle because people believed they would sew shut the mouths of fibbing children. Darners, along with Monarch butterflies, migrate south in the fall.
Dragonflies have two pairs of wings, neither of which are hinged to move horizontally. When a dragonfly turns, centrifugal force bends the wings so that they overlap. The clattering noise you hear as the beast banks is the sound of the wings slapping against each other. Dragonflies are great "mosquito hawks", highly adept at catching these insect pests on the wing. And they don't sting.
Leopard frogs have spots resembling shadows. What other animals which use this type of camouflage can your Scouts name? Leopards and fawns are naturals. The stripes of tigers and zebras break up body outline.
The tongues of frogs are attached to the front of the mouth. A frog can flick out the tongue to catch a bug in 15/lOOth of a second.
Cold-hardy frogs such as Spring Peepers and Wood Frogs produce glycol (car antifreeze) to keep body parts from hardening during their winter hibernation. Many insects also use glycol.
The frog's sensory organs, like those of the beaver, are located on top of the head. This allows frogs to keep alert for prowling predators with minimal outof-water body exposure. Wildlife landlubbers such as woodchucks and ground squirrels are adapted in a similar way for peeping out of their burrows.
Salamander means "fire animal". Mediaeval people saw these creatures crawl out of logs they tossed into fires and believed they were immune to heat. From this belief arose the superstition that you could prevent burns by licking a salamander's belly three times.
An interesting adaptation to marsh life is found in the American Bittern. Its eyes are situated for downward vision so that it can stalk pond prey. When frightened or resting, the bittern stands with its beak held straight up in the air. In this position, its eyes are focussed ahead, and its streaked breast resembles reed grass.
Put two fingers into a pail of tightly packed soil and try to move them apart. Pretty hard, eh? Now imagine the difficulty a probing shorebird faces when it has to use its beak to push aside mud to catch a fast-burrowing insect. Sandpipers, dowitchers and other peep species have special muscles that manipulate the beak tip like tweezers, allowing them to probe and catch dinner with a closed bill.
Prehistoric beavers were as large as black bears and weighed around 360 kg (800 lbs.). Present day beavers weigh a tenth of that. The largest beaver dam measures 642 m (2140 ft.), almost a half mile, and is 3.5 m (12 ft.) high in some places.
The beaver's food plants, such as willow, alder and birch, are high in nitrogen and add nutrients to the water for growing pond weeds. Contrary to the belief of many, beavers have no control over where a tree will fall.
Though muskrats weigh about 1.5 kg (3 lbs.), they can stay submerged as long as a beaver (about 15 minutes).
"Rats" relax their muscles and reduce their heart rate to stretch oxygen supplies. The muscle tissue in muskrats can tolerate high carbon dioxide levels.
So, have I hooked you? Sparked even a little bit of interest? Good. The next time you have a warm day and boys eager to explore, grab some nets and jump into the thick of ponding. It's sure to make a big splash with your group.
Amphibians of Canada, Barbara Froom. McClelland and Stewart. Toronto, 1982.
Beauty and the Bag. Marylee Stephenson in Nature Canada Vol. 13, No. 1 (Jan/Mar 1984).
Nature with Children of All Ages, Edith A. Sisson. Massachusetts Audubon Society. Prentice Hall New Jersey. 1982.
Pond Life Golden Guide, Zim (see Outdoors, April '84 issue of the Leader). Recommended field guide.
The New Field Book of Fresh Water Life, Elsie B. Klots, Putnam, New York, 1966.
Canadian Conservation Directory. 4th edition. Canadian Nature Federation, 75 Albert St. Suite 203, Ottawa, Ont. K1P 6G1: $5.50. Lists international national and provincial outdoor organizations, nature centres, trail clubs and environmental firms.
Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain, 112 St. Clair Avenue West. Suite 504. Toronto, Ont. M4V 2Y3: free. Comprehensive and voluminous material on Canada's acid rain problems. A must!
Last edited: February 22, 2004
The NetWoods Virtual Campsite, Steve Tobin, Campmaster