Salamander Collection and Insect Traps
Mood:  smelly
Topic: Biodiversity
Today was another fantastic day full of adventure.  We started by collecting data on Salamanders.  We found a lot of larvae, which was exciting.  We traveled up stream and check around 22 salamander "hotels".  The most amazing thing about our Smokies, is the peacefulness  of everything.  It is so serene and even magical to be far away from cars, tv and radio.  Everytime I go, I feel rejuvenated.  I was able to look at and take data on almost every salamander we found.  Their undersides are almost transparent and I could see their hearts beating.  I think we need to remeber what we are protecting.  It is never just a tree or a leaf, it is an entire ecosystem that works together.  We cannot do anything better than nature.  Everything is perfectly laid out.  We need to protect what is around us.  This is definitly an on going topic for the next school year.  In the afternoon, we learned about wood boring beetles and moths.  I will make a special entry later describing some of the things I learned.  Then we checked some insect traps for these beetles.  We were able to recover some.  So it was a positive endeavor. Overall, another fantastic day.