RiverWatch December 2023: Happy Holidays
From our families to yours, we wish you all a joyful holiday season!
River Park offices will be closed for the holidays between Christmas and New Year's - but the High Trail is always open! With parking off Channel Road.
River Park Rascals
Reading the book “Rascal” by Sterling North was a life-changing experience as a child. The sensitive and detailed description of a boy raising a baby raccoon gave insight into the intelligence, curiosity, and sociable nature of Rascal and raccoons in general – until it was time for Rascal to go back into the wild and create a family of his own. Sterling and Rascal would be heartened by the abundance of raccoons at the river park, sociable family groups as well as solo travelers. Our new trail cams are capturing lots of photos, including whisker pics when raccoons investigate the lens. As much as we enjoy studying wildlife, wildlife is studying us right back. As many species as we see out here, now we are getting a glimpse into the much larger number of animals that are here but living secret lives.
Did you know that raccoons provide ecosystem benefits? They control ticks and wasps, they clean up carrion, they aerate the soil by digging and they disperse seeds to start new plants. Trash bandit or savvy survivor? You decide. River Park rascals below.
iNaturalist
For more pics of species found at the river park, please visit our iNaturalist project page! You do not need to sign up or log in to view the photos taken by almost 60 observers, but if you would like to participate, here is the link to create an account. Anyone can do it! (Just ask our kids :-) Photo observations in our project area will be added automatically to the page, helping to document the natural history of the river.
The Coyote Channel
About Us
Lakeside's River Park Conservancy is a private 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which means that we raise our own funds for operations. Project grants allow us to do work that fulfills our mission, but individual donations literally keep the lights on. Donations are tax-deductible, so please consider donating today! Thank you.
