The Otter - Summer 2020

SUMMER 2020

TTER

WILDCENTER.ORG

OUT IN THE COLD

P2 COVID-19 update P4 A New Normal P7 Spring Forward

P8 DIY Summit P10 Wild Roots P14 Piling On

A letter

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Dear Friends: We miss you.

Like millions of us, I’m working remotely. It’s given me a lot of time to reflect on our mission, and how we can continue to serve, even when we can’t be together.

We’ve long said our goal is to spark a greater awareness of nature among our visitors. Sometimes, that awareness inspires Wild Center guests to more deeply appreciate the world around them.

Others go farther—planting pollinator gardens, for instance, or taking action against climate change.

When we open our doors again, our goal won’t change. But what we’ve realized during this lonely time without you is: We don’t have to wait for the world to come to the Adirondacks to make those connections. Because even when we’re apart, our mission is as urgent as ever.

We need to reach people whenever—wherever—we can.

Over the past two months, we’ve worked at record speed to bring our programs online. Several times a week, sometimes more than once a day, our naturalists and caretakers are going live on the Internet, opening our doors to visitors from around the country and world.

As new as these programs are, we’ve already come to recognize them as vital. As you read about them, I hope you will also, and read more about how you can support them on p.7.

Each of us are so looking forward to the day when we can welcome you back to see the otters or stroll on Wild Walk. In the meantime, I’m proud to say: We’ll come your way instead.

Stay well, Stephanie Ratcliffe 2

photo: Lisa Godfrey

3

A NEW NORMAL Us here, you there—this distancing doesn’t make us happy. But we’re doing our best to adapt. Here’s what we’ve been doing this spring to keep things as normal as possible, even when nothing is normal at all.

350 mouths to feed Many of us are working from home. But for our fish, birds and other creatures, The Wild Center is home.

Our four full-time animal care experts are still reporting to work every day.

To minimize contact with each other, they’re working on opposite schedules.

We stocked up on several months’ of supplies before everything closed, so our 350 residents won’t miss a meal.

4

They do miss you, though.

A lot of our critters—like our otters, and ravens—are very aware when visitors drop by, and they’re a little lonely without the attention!

Live, from Tupper Lake (or wherever) Just because we can’t be together doesn’t mean we can’t be together. Our “Lunchtime Live” sessions bring The Wild Center to you every weekday at noon, from our animals to interesting things our naturalists find in their own backyards. And on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we’re bringing you live, interactive classes. So far, it’s been a hit: More than 200,000 people have tuned in, watching over 50,000 minutes of content. That includes viewers from all

50 states and 118 different countries.

After all, the planet still needs our help.

Once things get back to normal, count on seeing us online more often. “Our mission is to inspire people to engage and connect with nature, not just here in the Adirondacks but wherever they are,” says Leah Valerio, our curator.

“We’ve had to rethink how we go about doing that.

We’re going to come away from this experience even better equipped to serve our visitors.”

So we’re brainstorming on ways for those sessions to go virtual. In April, dozens of Summit organizers joined us on Zoom as we discussed ways to bring these gatherings online.

We’re thinking about trying virtual art exhibits and other outside-the-box solutions.

Climate can’t wait Youth Climate Summits around the world have inspired thousands of students to make lasting change. But we don’t want to let the pandemic put the brakes on that movement.

Already, two summits—one in Buffalo and one in the Bronx—have switched to an online format. And while a digital summit will look a lot different, one thing won’t change. Every student will still collaborate on a climate action plan to help their communities go green.

Visit us at wildcenter.org for links to all of our online activities.

5

It’s Your Turn What we wouldn’t give, these days, to explore a field of wildflowers, or watch birds migrate, or just sit beneath a palm tree on a sunny beach.

Will you take us there?

In a new series we’re calling

#MyNatureStory,

we’re asking you to post a memorable experience you had in nature. Because while a lot of us are cooped up, finding it hard to make new experiences, one of nature’s best superpowers is that it lingers. It can inspire and make us happy, even when we’re not there.

So share! Tell us a story in a video, or make a painting, or play a song. We could all use it. You can either post using the hashtag #MyNatureStory, or go to wildcenter.org/ mynaturestory to share there. (You can go to our Facebook page to see a few examples that are already posted.)

6

Spring

FORWARD

In the Adirondacks, spring is greeted with hope, and relief. And while nature’s routine has come right on schedule here, our own routines have been upended.

who buy tickets and memberships, eat at our café and shop at the Wild Supply Co. This year, we’ll lose much of that support.

As a result, we’re facing a $1 million gap in 2020.

Even so, this pandemic hasn’t affected people’s desire to connect with nature—or our desire to help make those connections.

It’s why we’ve been working so hard to find new ways to serve our community.

But we need your help.

If you’re in a position to support The Wild Center, and support our thriving new efforts as well as our beloved existing programs, please consider a gift to our Spring Forward fund.

You can send a donation in the enclosed envelope, or give online at WildCenter.org/support.

Every year, our programs receive critical support from the 100,000 visitors

Thank you.

E-TAIL THERAPY This spring brought a complete redesign of our online shopping experience. And with a fresh new look comes new puzzles for the family, nature-themed gifts, and Wild Center merch. Visit shop.wildcenter.org, where members save 10% using the code member10.

7

STAY-IN-STITUTE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION

Join educators from around the country for a virtual training on climate change education this July. Gain the skills, tools and resources to teach climate change concepts and empower students in all subject areas, and receive ongoing support throughout the year.

WHEN: July 22–24 WHERE: Online! Register here: wildcenter.org/digital/stay-in-stitute Scholarships available at the registration link.

WHO: Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy, The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program, NOAA’s Climate Program Office and educators across the nation.

For more info: wildcenter.org/our-work/youth-climate-program/

ACTION PACK Over the past decade, dozens of organizations around the globe have held Youth Climate Summits. And many of those events have a bit of Wild Center DNA at their core.

That’s because our Youth Climate Summit Toolkit has been a starting point for many summits. But the toolkit was getting a little musty. So we recently gave it a front-to-back update.

As of 2019, Youth Climate Summits have been held in more than 35 places, including 11 states and five countries. The first, of course, happened here at The Wild Center. In the years that followed, others have been hosted by schools and museums, in big cities and rural areas. So a new toolkit is a way to feature 8

new knowledge, says Erin Griffin, our climate & communities coordinator.

The new toolkit is filling some big shoes: The last version was downloaded more than 400 times. The new one is easier to read and has a fresh new design. It also does a better job at helping people understand what a summit is all about, even if they’ve never been to one. “You get the sense that it’s highenergy, hopeful, and the youth voice is front and center,” Griffin says. “There aren’t many events that have that feel.”

All that—and it’s free, too. To get your Youth Climate Summit Toolkit, go to wildcenter.org/youthclimate.

9

Last spring, when Alessia McCobb and her best friend began working the fields on their new farm in Brunswick, Maine, they found themselves building beds by hand and hauling compost in wheelbarrows because it was too wet for a tractor. The mud was so deep it sucked off their boots.

“It was pretty brutal,” she says.

It was also the culmination of everything she’d been looking for since her first job out of college in 2014, when she

WILD ROOTS 10

tangible progress that comes from physical labor. Today, McCobb is getting ready for her second season at Sound Pine Farm, which is supported by subscribers who take a share of the farm’s crop. This year, she’s hoping to grow those subscribers by half, from 50 to 75.

Someday, McCobb would like to have the space to incorporate a bigger educational component into the farm. Until then, her legacy can still be seen at The Wild Center; she was a driving force behind our art studio,

“Everything works together. And everything has to work together well in order to be sustainable and viable.” joined The Wild Center as a naturalist.

McCobb is passionate about conservation and place-based education, and her year in Tupper Lake left a mark on her: “I really learned a lot about connecting with other people, and making a topic you’re passionate about relatable and understandable to others,” she says. “The Wild Center taught us how to communicate better.”

where visitors make their own watercolors. That project encouraged her to take up painting—a hobby that taught her to look at the natural world, and her Maine farm, in a different light.

“I really try to look at it as this big-picture organism,” McCobb says. “Everything works together. And everything has to work together well in order to be sustainable and viable.”

But she missed getting her hands dirty, and the satisfaction of seeing the

11

CREATURE FEATURE These tiny turtles (Clemmys guttata) are some of the smallest found in nature.

Our three spotted turtles came from the Bronx Zoo in 2006. Generally found on the edges of the Adirondack Park, they’re also at risk: New York State considers them a species of “special concern.”

SIZE: 3.5—5 inches long.

DIET: Snails, worms, slugs, spiders.

DOTS ALL: It’s pretty obvious why they’re 12

called “spotted turtles.”

Sometimes, older turtles have more than 100 yellow spots; hatchlings have fewer, with one spot per shell plate.

WHERE TO SPOT THE SPOTTED TURTLE: Fewer places than ever, unfortunately. They’re very sensitive to pollution and habitat loss, and they’re valuable to poachers who sell them as pets. Today, you’re most likely to see spotted turtles in the Hudson Valley, Long Island

and in western and central New York. While threatened in several states, they can be found as far south as Florida.

WHAT CAN I DO? By eating less meat, buying locally grown food and using less single-use plastic, you can reduce your impact and help all kinds of wildlife.

TURTLE X-ING: In May and June, female turtles leave breeding areas and search for places to nest. Many are hit by cars as they try to cross roads. If you see

one, pull over in a safe spot and help it along.

SLOW ROLL: If turtles can avoid predators (raccoons, mostly) and cars, they’ve got a long run in front of them: Some live as long as 50 years.

CALL THEM GOLDILOCKS: Spotted turtles don’t like it too hot—or cold, either.

Active from March to October, they go dormant at the height of summer and the depths of winter.

13

Waste Not, Want Not One after the other, the students from L.P. Quinn Elementary School in Tupper Lake walked up to the gray tub in the cafeteria, dumping their half-eaten lunches: Orange peels, French toast and sausages, piling up at a rapid rate.

Just a few months ago, those scraps would have wound up in the landfill.

Starting in February, though, they began heading to The Wild Center to feed our new highcapacity composter.

Those abandoned meals aren’t just providing us with a source of rich organic materials for our pollinator and butterfly gardens. They’re also helping us reduce one of the biggest contributors 14

to climate change. Every year, food waste puts 4.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere—8 percent of all manmade greenhouse gas emissions, according to “Drawdown,” a 2017 book that suggests dozens of ways to reverse climate change. Decreasing food waste is one of the best.

“This is a demonstration project that The Wild Center, our visitors and the community can learn from together,” says Youth Climate Program Coordinator Kali DeMarco.

DeMarco worked with L.P. Quinn’s Green Team, a group of eco-minded 6th graders, to put the program in place there and at Tupper Lake Middle-High School. Before closing

because of COVID-19, they were delivering 140 pounds of waste daily to the composter. One of the group’s leaders, Jonah Kendall, made a fairly simple pitch for supporting the project: “This is better for the wildlife, and the trees, and the ecosystem, than throwing it out.”

Our composter—a giant, rotating plastic drum— fills a 40-foot shipping container. When working at full capacity, it can reach temperatures of 145 degrees (much hotter than the backyard pile you’ll learn about on p16.)

The $60,000 project is supported by grants from several state agencies and local organizations, including the New York State Pollution Prevention

Institute, the Adirondack North Country Association and the North Country School/Camp Treetops, where the region’s first unit was installed. As part of a grant awarded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, ANCA and North Country School selected The Wild Center in partnership with Tupper Lake School District and two other school districts, Lake Placid and Hermon-DeKalb, to participate in the project as well.

Funding provided by the Environmental Protection Fund as administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Any opinions, findings, and/ or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations or policy of Rochester Institute of Technology and its NYS Pollution Prevention Institute or the State.

15

ORGANIC MATTERS

Add browns and greens in equal amounts (by weight).

Break up big pieces, and remember to keep a balance of greens and browns.

Every year, the United States produces 36 million tons of food waste. Almost all of it—95 percent—goes to landfills. When that waste breaks down, it produces methane, a big contributor to climate change.

You can put a dent in that by composting. And when you’re done, you’ll have rich organic fertilizer you can mix with your garden soil or into flower pots. It’s easy to do, and it doesn’t smell (really). Try it!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: A dry, shady spot near a water source. You can buy or make a container (3-by3 feet is a good size), or even just put your pile on the ground.

Organic material. Compost needs green material (nitrogen-rich) and brown material (carbon-rich).

A tarp to cover your pile, if you’re not using a container.

Use a shovel, pipe, hockey stick or another tool to churn the mixture once or twice a week.

In a few months, you’ll have dark, rich, ready-touse compost at the bottom of the pile. Add it to your garden for organic, allnatural fertilizer.

WHAT TO DO: Add an equal amount of brown material and green material to the pile.

The carbon feeds the organisms that break down the scraps; the nitrogen enriches your compost. (If you stay away from adding meat and dairy, your compost pile won’t smell.)

THINGS YOU CAN COMPOST: THINGS YOU CAN’T COMPOST:

GREEN Fruits and vegetables Eggshells Coffee grounds and filters Tea bags Yard trimmings Grass clippings

Add water periodically. Your pile should feel like a damp sponge.

Houseplants

BROWN

Dairy products (e.g., butter, milk, sour cream, yogurt) and eggs Diseased or insect-ridden plants Fats, grease, lard or oils Meat or fish bones and scraps Pet waste Yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides

Shredded newspaper Cardboard Paper Hay and straw Dry leaves Sawdust Wood chips

16

17

We really miss your smiling faces. So we did a deepdive on Instagram to find them. It made us really happy—we’d have printed all of them, but we didn’t have the space. Here’s what gave us the biggest Insta-grin this month: “The highlight of #thewildcenter was the spider’s web. We (and I do mean all of us) climbed, rolled, and jumped around the suspended web for hours.” - @travisj

ALL SMILES 18

Our other favorites, from top to bottom, were submitted by Instagram users @abeamoon, @4riverrats, @jelaniweldon and @littlewildandfreemama.

We’re sending copies of “A Wild Journey,” our photographic history of The Wild Center, to each of these Insta winners.

You need a smile? Search for #WILDCENTER and soak it up.

And when you’re here (and we hope it’s real soon), be sure to tag your own photos.

19

Stephanie Ratcliffe Executive Director

Nancy K. Simpkins Chair

The Wild Center is a not-forprofit 501(c)(3) organization chartered as an educational institution by the New York State Board of Regents.

Printed on paper proudly produced at International Paper’s Ticonderoga mill using fiber from sustainably managed Adirondack forests.

The Otter is published by The Wild Center 45 Museum Drive Tupper Lake, NY USA 12986 wildcenter.org 518.359.7800

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

The Wild Center 45 Museum Drive Tupper Lake, NY 12986