It was a fine, spring-like day Feb. 2 in Garner, NC to hold a nature-centered festival on Groundhog Day at White Deer Park. The star of the show, provided by the NC wildlife rescue, rehab, and education non-profit CLAWS, did not see his shadow and whispered in the ear of Garner Mayor Buddy Gupton that spring is just around the corner, to the delight of the hundreds of attendees! SWC was one of about a dozen exhibitors and had a fun time with all the kids and parents.
The SWC booth featured three tables, each with its own focus, plus the ever-popular Q&A board to test everyone’s wildlife knowledge in a fun way. The main display is new this year: all about North Carolina mammals. Another table gave kids a craft project to create paper-bag groundhog puppets. The third table had a variety of real mammal skins and mounts, including a coyote, beaver, deer antlers, and even a javelina (collared peccary) from South America! There was also a diorama of a beaver habitat to talk about beaver lifestyles.
Everyone had a blast, and we look forward to more opportunities to connect kids with nature in 2024! Many thanks to Dave, Cissy, Bob, and Regan for volunteering and making this a great time for all of us.
In the meantime, if you have kids, please mark your calendars and tell your friends and neighbors about our upcoming Kids in Nature Day, which will be held at Lake Benson Park in Garner on May 4, 1-4 PM. Registration and other details will be posted on this site in the coming weeks.
South Wake Conservationists 