Ever wondered who left that footprint? What kind of berries are those? Or why is that White-tailed Deer white all over? Look no further than your local naturalists, the people at your Geauga Park District whose job it is to help you understand the natural world around you.
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Use the form below to submit your question – ideally with a photo (if available), description of sighting (including size) and location of sighting (somewhere in Northeast Ohio) – and you’ll receive an email when a naturalist responds.
Please note that while this form does collect your name and contact information, those items will not be posted with your question, only used in case we need to contact you for additional details.
What have other people been asking lately? Scroll below the form and enjoy some other naturalist Q&As on us!
My daughter was recently hiking in Big Creek Park and saw your mallard duck nest you created. We have a pond and each year a mallard pair attempt a nest but it is near our house or bottom of a tree. Unfortunately the raccoons eventually find it. We would like to make one to help this pair enjoy our pond. Do you have directions perhaps you could please send to me? It is a tubular, horizontal nest having straw for the duck to go inside. Thanks.
No — Section 4 of our Rules & Regulation states:
CULTURAL AND NATURAL FEATURES, COLLECTING No person shall destroy, disturb, deface or remove any natural, archaeological or cultural feature from any area within the Park.No person shall collect any animal including birds, inverte-brates (including mollusks), non-game fi sh, amphibians and reptiles or plant material in any area of the Park without written permission of the Executive Director, except leaves that have dropped from trees may be collected for educational purposes and game fish may be taken as designated in Section 12 “Hunting, Trapping and Fishing.”
I recently experienced the new Welton's Gorge park this weekend and it left me wondering, who was Welton? I noticed off the trail there was a crumbling fireplace and chimney, could this have part of the home of Mr. Welton?
Naturalist's Response
Hello,
We are currently researching the history of the Welton’s Gorge property. We do know that the gorge was named after Lewis Welton, who was born in New Haven County, Connecticut, and came to Geauga sometime around 1830. The Geauga County tax map from 1830 shoes Mr. Welton owning the property at that time.
As for the chimney, we know that this could not have been part of the residence of Mr. Welton. The building was apparently made of sheet metal and would have been built after Welton’s time.
Stay tuned for more information! We are learning new things every day and plan on installing a trailside sign about the history sometime in the near future.
Today April 8th around 4pm we were on the bridge by Middle Bear Lake (coming off the Whitetail Trail), we were looking for the small turtles we saw before winter set in. We spotted a HUGE turtle (tortoise?) that we have not seen before! The neck was so long and he swam under the bridge. remarkable! Can you share any info about him?
Naturalist's Response
Howdy!
Our largest turtle is the Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina, shown above. Adults regularly grow to lengths of two feet or more, and they’re happy to spend sunny weather lording over Geauga County ponds!
Though they’re the largest, they’re not the candidates for the turtle you saw. Beartown Lakes also hosts the much-smaller Painted Turtle and Eastern Musk Turtle (both of which are smaller than a dinner plate).
Other locations in Geauga County have also turned up the odd Northern Map Turtle and the occasional Northern Spiny Softshell Turtle. (The Northern Spiny Softshell Turtle is smaller than a typical Snapping Turtle, but it does have a distinctly long neck. As far as I know, the only Geauga County location where a Softshell Turtle has been reported is the LaDue Reservoir.)
Have a look at the terrific “Reptiles Of Ohio Field Guide” from the Ohio Division of Wildlife, and see if you can spot your turtle.
My kids and I were wondering why it looks like Frohring Meadows had a fire intentionally set. Is that something the park does annually to prevent overgrowth?
Naturalist's Response
Thank you for asking. Yes, a prescribed fire was conducted at Frohring Meadows on March 23. This habitat management technique keeps this meadow in an early successional state, removing woody vegetation (trees, shrubs, invasives) that are trying to establish. Geauga Park District burns sections of the meadow each year on a rotation. And don’t worry, the sites will be very lush and green within a few short weeks.
I saw a large mass (6 to 8 inches diameter) of amphibian eggs in the pond at Observatory park yesterday (3-24-21). Way too big for wood frogs which are croaking right now. What else could it be at this early date?
Naturalist's Response
Dagnabbit, I was in the same park on the same day, but was stuck indoors. Good job spotting those!
You’re right that we’ve only started to hear Wood Frog and Spring Peeper mating calls this week; it’s likely far too soon for them to have created large egg masses.
Similarly, the Gray Treefrogs, American Toads and Leopard Frogs haven’t made a peep yet at Observatory Park, so it’s even more unlikely to be their work.
Just based on the timing, my top two suspects are Jefferson’s Salamanders and Spotted Salamanders. They started moving into the pools during the February warm snap, and their offspring might have developed into egg masses by now.
In the meantime, take a look at this outstanding guide to identifying egg masses in the northern United States from the nice folks at the Orianne Society. (They’re in New England, but the guide features many of the same amphibians we have in our spring pools.) See if any of those look familiar!
what happens if a third-order stream and second-order stream connect? im asking for frank. hes being very annoying about the whole situation.
Naturalist's Response
Hah! I’m always happy to “muddy the waters” of a disagreement. (See what I did there?)
Unlike the simple rules of the Thunderdome (“Two men enter, one man leaves!”), there’s no single rule for labeling streams.
Everybody agrees that a stream with NO tributaries is a “first-order stream.” And most people agree that when two first-order streams merge, they deserve to be called a “second-order stream.”
That’s about where the agreement stops.
There are two different methods whipped up in the 1950s and 1960s that are still in use today for ordering streams:
The Strahler Method: Developed by Arthur Strahler, this method says that stream order only increases when two streams of the same order merge. If a lesser stream joins a greater stream, then the stream order doesn’t change. (For example, two second-order streams merge to make a third-order stream; but if a second-order stream joins a third-order stream, it remains a third-order stream.)
The Shreve Method: Developed by Ronald Shreve, this method takes the approach of adding the order numbers of any streams that merge. Every time there’s a merger, the order number changes. (For example, if a second-order stream joined a third-order stream, the result would be a fifth-order stream.)
There’s no single, correct method. Lots of hydrology planners prefer the Shreve method; it seems to be the more popular method as of 2021.
However, the Shreve method has the advantage of telling you how many upstream channels there are at a glance; some watershed-based maps prefer this method.
Regardless, the folks in the GIS and mapping industry are ready to switch between methods when necessary. For example, the ESRI company has a switch to let you choose which method to use for your map.
(The streams, presumably, don’t care what humans label them; they just flow.)
What is this? Part of it looks like steel, my sister and me found them in our backyard underground while we were digging. -Ali, age 7
Naturalist's Response
Hi, Ali And Crew:
Thanks for your post!
Your mystery rock does LOOK like it has the rusty color of steel. That’s a good sign that it includes iron oxide, or iron that’s reacted with the air to turn brown.
Your mystery rock also seems to have lots of tiny holes in it, and a general “popcorn” shape.
Based on those two clues, my best guess is that you might have found a piece of slag. Slag is made of the leftovers when people melt iron ore and other rocks in furnaces to make useful metals like steel and cast iron. It involves bubbling air passing through the molten rock; when the rock cools and hardens again, the bubble tracks leave the lots of little holes and passageways.
Another possible source for your mystery rocks could be bog iron, a naturally occurring form of iron that sometimes lends a rusty color to spring water. In the 1800’s, people would collect it for use by blacksmith shops, who’d smelt it into useful iron objects.
Your mystery rock might have come from an old-timey blacksmith, or from an Ohio steel mill. Builders would often collect the tough slag rocks and use them to fill in holes at construction sites, railroad beds and roadways.
If you want to investigate your rock further, try these next steps:
Magnet Test: See whether or not a strong magnet will stick to your rock. That’s a sure sign that it contains a lot of iron!
Streak Test: Find yourself an old (or unused) ceramic tile, and rub your mystery rock against the unglazed side. (That’s the side that isn’t brightly-colored, and feels rough like sandpaper.) If your rock leaves a colorful mark behind, that “streak” can be a helpful clue to identifying it.
Density Test: This one’s trickier! If you have access to a kitchen scale, you can measure your rock’s “specific gravity.” It’s a measure of how much matter is crammed into your rock’s size, or volume. Specific gravity can also be a helpful clue to your rock’s identity! There are plenty of great instructional videos online showing exactly how to measure a rock’s specific gravity; my personal favorite is this helpful one from Clay “Dr. Dirt” Robinson.
I am having difficulty dropping picture files to this site. What are the qualifications and limits to add photos to Ask a Naturalist?
Naturalist's Response
I would recommend keeping files/photos under 3MB, if possible. Smaller the better, but I think the site allows up to 6MB.
They should also consist of JPEG, PNG or PDF files, if possible.
That should do it. If you’re still getting an error after those recommendations, please email a screenshot of your error to sward@geaugaparkdistrict.org and she will send it to me for investigation.
-Nathan Winne, Chief Operating Officer at Company 119, Website Developer
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