In honor of leap day: Give some love to kids working to save the most endangered frog in the US

According to the red list, the dusky gopher frog is one of the most critically endangered frog species in North America.  At one time, you could find this frog in the southern coastal plain from Louisiana to Mississippi.  Now, there are less than 250 left in two ponds in Mississippi.

When I buzzed around the web looking for a any non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the frog, I found something much more inspirational: a group of middle-school students in Gulfport, Mississippi that took it upon themselves to save the frog species.  Meet the Commodore Climate Changers:



"Three of the students found this Mississippi gopher frog online," she said. "It has only one habitat in the United States and it is here." 

Friday was the first day for the students to visit the site where they cut underbrush to make way for grass.

 These students are doing work on the ground to restore habitat, as well as increasing awareness in their school.

Give 'em some love on their facebook page.

 

10 fun things to do with kids on a nature trail

1.  Nature bingo.  To head off any potential sibling discord, I put the wild animal poop on both cards.

2.  Nature alphabet photography.  To do the entire alphabet might take several trips, so here are some ideas for shorter attention spans:

• Stick to the letters of their name.
• Help nature along a bit by doing some letter arrangements with leaves, sticks, etc.
• Shoot as many letters as they can find, and challenge them to make as many words as possible.

3.  Project Noah.  Upload pictures of your spottings of plants and wildlife to a community-based site where people all over the world are documenting biodiversity on a global scale.  Use your smartphone with a free app, or use a digital camera and upload pictures at home.  You can earn "patches" by the number of spottings or join a "mission" to document spottings for a cause.  If you have no idea what you've spotted, no worries, someone in the Project Noah community will help you identify it!
  

4. Free play with a Discovery Backpack - Do not even think about beginning this activity until you have done two things: A) put the oldest playclothes you possess on your child and B) make a plan for a direct route from the car to the bathtub when you get home (plastic for the car seat might be wise as well).  Then, let them go wild with tools of nature discovery.  Rest assured, giving your children uninhibited play in the wild is the absolute best thing you can do for their bodies, brains, and well-being.  This blog has a great list of items for the backpack that I can't possibly improve on.  Except maybe an underwater viewer.

5.  Who Pooped?  The multifunctional and fashionable SCAT SCARF is a must-have.  I know what the Easter bunny is bringing this year.

6. Greetings on the trail.  How many ways can you use natural materials to leave clever messages for the next trail adventurer?  Just be sure you leave no damage and that the messages can be washed away by rain or blown away by wind.

7.  Build a house for a fairy or an elf.

8.  Meet a tree game.  Blindfold your child and lead him/her to an interesting tree (yet another function for the scat scarf!).  Ask specific questions, like "Can you put your arms around it?", "Is the bark smooth or rough?" and "Do you feel any holes or big bumps?".  When your child is done exploring the tree, lead him/her back to the starting point by an indirect route.  Now, remove the blindfold and see if your child can find the tree!
 
9.  Flora and fauna identification apps.  Unfortunately the list does not include a scat app, but there are lots to choose from, including birds and tree leaves.

10.  Birder's Life List journal.  If you've got a budding bird-lover, here's a clip mosaic of some great ideas for making a personal birder's journal, where he or she can begin documenting lifetime bird sightings.  I would recommend starting with a spiral-bound book that can lay flat.  And how about a plastic zippered pocket to keep feathers?  Journaling tips from the birding community here.



Pascal. Miniaturized.

On the heels of the discovery of the world's smallest frog, comes the announcement of the discovery of the world's tiniest chameleon.  (You might recognize a chameleon if you are the parent of a daughter in the throes of Rapunzel-fever). 

The species, Brookesia micra, was found in remote rainforests of northern Matagascar.  They are considered "microendemic", which means that they are not only endemic (found in only one place on earth), but they are seriously endemic - this little guy can only be found on one island.

(As an aside, and because I am into pre-school humor, the island carries the unfortunate name of Nosy Hara).