Perfect Weather To Find Benthic Macroinvertebrates
SYRACUSE — The temperature was in the mid-60s with bright sunshine around 9 a.m. today Saturday, July 7, for the annual Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation Bug Catch.
Close to 100 youngsters brought their parents, aunts or grandparents to the event to catch benthic macroinvertebrates and other critters found along the shoreline of the WACF property. Crawdads, zebra mussels, minnows, snails and various insects were found by the youngsters.
Nancy Brown, Hoosier Riverwatch trainer and retired employee with Elkhart County Soil and Water Conservation District, led the program and helped identify what was found in the lake. She also provided a brief educational talk before the group walked down to the lake front.
The event lasted until 11 a.m.
Water, juice, fruit and breakfast bars were available for guests.
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- Nancy Brown goes over the various insects and their ratings on the importance to a lake.
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- Nancy Brown gives a brief educational speech to the group before heading to the lake.
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- Ready to get into the lake.
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- Kids flock to the lake with their nets ready to catch some critters.
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- Mila Mackie is surprised what she found.
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- Emma Paternoster uses a big net
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- Ben Yoder tries his hand at catching bugs.
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- Jack Batz looks out beyond the shores edge.
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- Joanna Hierholzer looks in her net.
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- Jon Zurcher helps Hailey Zurcher look in the cattails for insects.
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- Skyler Henderson and her aunt Mindy Hoskins explore what they found.
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- Charlie Trame takes a look at what her father, Robbie has in the net.
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- Carter Culhan takes a closer look at what he found in the lake.
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- Bria Zurcher sees what she found in her net.
