Trapping Experience in Gilman

As the thaw arrives, the Exeter river begins to flow again. The dormant plants are sprouting all over the Gilman Park, signaling the arrival of the Spring. For this last three months with the woods, I decide to carry out a trapping project in the Exeter river.

My goal is to catch a crayfish. I did online research and found that crayfish is abundant in NH and it should be found in almost every pond. I began by constructing my own traps from bottles, but they failed. So, I bought a simple net trap from eBay instead. The first bait I used was D-Hall bread. Nothing happened and the bread rapidly dissolved away, so I changed my strategy.

According to many websites, the best crayfish bait is fresh fish, so I bought real preserved minnow (fish). After a few day, I got a small turtle. Then in the next day, I got a small fish. They did not seem to interest in the bait, so I suspect that they accidentally got stuck there by the current.

After a week of no crayfish, I biked around the woods to find a better spot. I found a stagnant area at one end of the river and placed the trap there instead. Three newts (aquatic salamander) was trapped on the first day.

I keep two and release one. For a week, I still could not get any crayfish, so I moved again. The next place (not shown in the map) is on the left of the second trap, in the same stagnant water area. So far, I do not get again crayfish (all I get are newts and more newts!), but I still check the trap everyday, hoping to get a better result.

Gilman Expedition I

The last project for this Fall that I intended to do is the Gilman Expedition. Last Sunday, I've found that there is a huge park at the back of the school known as the Gilman Park. I've already walked around the small track of this park on Sunday, but I found out later that there is another big track.

I had only one exam period today, so I decided to begin my expedition. I began with the left side of the big track, which is smaller. This part is quite dry, so there was nothing much except the dried leaves. However, I could still find some mosses diversity here. I also found a few houses at the edge of the track.

Then I moved on into the Gilman Park main part. I noticed  mosses diversity in the forest was very interesting. There were some Polytrichun (possibly commune) presented. 

Also I ended part I of my expedition with the discovery of a large sphagnum bog. The sphagnum grows near a flowing stream in the forest in wide range. The species that I found has similar traits to those on the Bear Island. They are usually green, but turn red when gets a certain amount of sunlight. The sphagnum track is quite long, so I haven't completed it yet today. I may continue this track again very soon.