Young naturalists capture and catalogue critters

SALISBURY — Youngsters attending a “Bio Blitz” event at the Scoville Memorial Library Saturday, July 20, came up with an impressive haul of animals found on the library grounds.

The children worked under the guidance of Bethany Sheffer, naturalist at the Sharon Audubon Center.

Speaking to the group, which ranged in age from about six or seven years old to 12 or 13, she said the Bio Blitz is an attempt to catalog as many different species as possible in a one hour window.

Less than an hour, actually, when the introduction and subsequent debrief is factored in.

Cut loose by Sheffer, the participants headed straight for the Wachocastinook stream, which runs behind the library.
There they found, in no particular order: butterflies, hellgrammites, water spiders and stoneflies.

August Schaufelberger, age 11, had a moment of triumph when he coaxed a two-lined salamander into a specimen jar. Not to be outdone, his 7-year-old sister Anna fearlessly turned over a rock and picked off a couple of cased caddis flies.

Afterward, the group discussed their findings. Sheffer explained that the presence of things like the hellgrammite indicates the water quality is good, an encouraging sign for the overall health of the local ecosystem.