Poison Ivy, Beavers and Click Beetles, Oh My!

Well, it was about 90 degrees today! A great day to be at Interstate Park for the annual cub scout pic-nic and nature program. Park naturalist Julie took the boys around Lake of The Dalles and pointed out interesting local plants, insects and animals. I can tell you, the breeze off the lake was much appreciated today!

Here we get a lecture on which plants not to mess with...

..."Leaves of three, let it be".

Next we pause to check out some caterpillars...

...and this crazy bug that we found sitting on a pic-nic table...never seen the likes of this one before. A little internet search told me it is an Eyed Click Beetle. Those big black spots are not actually it's eyes, just a trick to make predators think it is bigger than it is. Interesting.

Julie brought along some pelts of animals that tend to frequent the lake...muskrat, beaver, otter and mink. I think I need me a muskrat coat. Man, that was one silky soft pelt!

Just before finishing up the hike, Julie took the boys out to "Romance Island". Legend has it that back in the days of copper mining on what is now Silverbrook trail in the park, miners would bring their sweethearts out to Romance Island to "woo" them. It's just a tiny little island in near to shore, but private enough, I guess.

The boys had a great time and were such troopers on this warm hike today! It's always a pleasure to be out in nature, I had a wonderful time too.