Nighttime nature hikes explore the nocturnal world
Ever wonder what goes on at night in nature? The Forest Preserve District of Kane County is offering special night hikes this month to explore the nocturnal world.
The guided walks will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on the following dates:
• Saturday, Oct. 11, at Tekakwitha Woods Forest Preserve in St. Charles.
• Saturday, Oct. 18, at Burnidge Forest Preserve in Elgin.
District naturalists will lead these adventures through dark forests and fields. Activities along the trail will demonstrate how wildlife has adapted to nocturnal life.
"Animals have cool ways to survive in the night, often involving senses other than sight," said naturalist Barb McKittrick. "During our night hikes, we'll practice using our senses of smell, touch, and even taste to see how well we would survive as nocturnal animals."
We'll hunt for animals on our hikes, particularly spiders. With flashlights, we can watch these webmasters at work.
"Spiders have awesome adaptations to nocturnal life," said naturalist Erica Lemon, a convert to arachnophilia (loving spiders). "They have eight eyes, but their vision is pretty poor. Instead, they use special chemoreceptors to learn what's going on around them."
Expect a few spider activities along the trail to demonstrate this.
Many nocturnal animals communicate with sound. Coyotes yip and yelp, owls hoot and whinny, and insects carry on with buzzes, trills, and hisses.
"It's 'surround sound' day and night!" exclaimed naturalist Josh Libman while standing in the prairie amid a cacophony of animal calls.
During the night hikes we'll be as quiet as possible to enjoy the animals' sounds, and we'll try to decipher which animals are calling. Then, at the end, we'll let loose with some howling and hooting of our own.
Lots of people nowadays call themselves night owls. But without electricity and all of our modern artificial sources of light, would these people be active at night?
"Just think if you had to do your grocery shopping when all the lights were turned off in the store," naturalist Ben Katzen said. "Raccoons, owls, even beetles have ways to find their groceries without even using flashlights."
A few trailside activities will test our night vision against the vision of owls - and you'll be surprised by what you can and can't see.
Advance registration is required for these free, family programs. Call (630) 444-3190 or email programs@kaneforest.com.
Campfire stories
There's one thing humans are good at doing at nighttime, and that's storytelling.
For thousands of years, before the advent of electric lights, people have swapped stories around campfires. We'll carry on that tradition on the last Saturday in October, when professional storytellers from the St. Charles Public Library will come to Creek Bend Nature Center.
The program will be from 8 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25. The storytellers will spin tales with scary themes in keeping with the spirit of the season. Weather permitting, the storytelling program will be held around the campfire by the creek.
Due to the fright factor of the stories, this program is for children in grades three and above, with an adult. Space is limited and advance registration is required. Call (630) 444-3190 or email programs@kaneforest.com.