This article appeared in the Great Bend Tribune on Sunday, May 19 as part of the monthly KWEC column, The Wetland Explorer. Saturday, April 27 was one of the bigger days of events for the Kansas Wetlands Education Center with three very different scheduled events taking place. The morning had the first-ever Wild Goose Chase 5k and 1 mile Fun Run at Cheyenne Bottoms with 160 participants running or walking over the dike roads. For [...]
This article appeared in the Great Bend Tribune on Sunday, February 17 as part of the monthly KWEC column, The Wetland Explorer. What are you most afraid of? The dark? Spiders? Snakes? Things that go bump in the night? Many of the common fears expressed by humans relate back to animals. You are probably aware of arachnophobia (the fear of spiders), but are you familiar with some of these other common animal phobias- Ophidiophobia (snakes), [...]
After a night of hard and steady rain, Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area has a little water once again. While most wetlands lack standing water for some parts of the year, Cheyenne Bottoms has gone through a long period of drought. This has left the area without water for many months, which has affected the local wildlife communities as well as migrations. Cheyenne Bottoms is limited to precipitation in the form of stream discharge, river diversion, and surface run-off. With both Blood [...]
This article appeared in the Great Bend Tribune on Sunday, January 27th as part of the monthly KWEC column, The Wetland Explorer. What will you be doing on February 2nd? Spending a quiet Saturday at home? Taking the family out for some winter fun? How about taking a moment to celebrate all the amazing things wetlands do for our environment? February 2nd is World Wetlands Day! It marks the 1971 signing of the Ramsar Convention, [...]
By Pam Martin Kansas Department Wildlife, Parks and Tourism educator People who feed birds often curse them, but for viewing fun, you can’t beat a fox squirrel. With tree branches stripped of leaves, these furry aerialists’ antics are easily viewed from the comfort of your home during the winter season. A fox squirrel strikes a familiar pose at one of its favorite food sources, a bird feeder. Although considered a pest by many who feed [...]
