A crew of students heading back to the trailhead after an afternoon of trailwork helping to construct a new trail to open up the western portion of the EcoPreserve to walking, biking, snowshoeing and x-country skiing.
Student volunteers came out to help spruce up the Livingston Campus trailhead kiosk area. New gravel was spread and woodchips raked to make a path down to the Ave E Roundabout.
(Photo by Darrell Jones) The EcoPreserve is habitat for several different snakes species. Most commonly seen are garter snakes and northern water snakes. This colorful snake (in the photo) is the northern ring-necked snake (Scientific name: Diadophis punctatus). The ringneck is harmless to humans. It preys on insects, earthworms, and other small herptiles. Remember: look but don’t keep.
Land Steward Lauren Palatini gives the new trail counter a thumbs-up Trail counters were installed at several of the EcoPreserve’s main trailheads to count the number of visitors entering or exiting the EcoPreserve. The objective is gain a better idea of the amount and location of the EcoPreserve’s usage. The counters don’t take pictures, they just count people passing by. So far the numbers are telling: for the months of October 2016 through January 2017, approximately 3,100 visitors entered or…