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June 2016| Issue 19
FAMILY NATURE NETWORK NEWSLETTER
Depot Lakes Conservation Area and Campground
Take your family on a camping adventure this summer 

Camping at Depot Lakes
Depot Lakes offers an affordable family camping experience.  Children 15 and under camp for free.  The pristine and peaceful setting will bring your family closer together and provide memories for the years to come.  Enjoy great fishing, swimming, and canoeing.
Safety Around Dams

Dams are a common site in our watershed.  Quinte Conservation is responsible for 39 dams and water control structures.  Some are used for flood and ice control while others provide recreation opportunities and help us hold back water for use later in the summer when river flows are low.

Dams can look like great places to boat, fish, swim or play, but they can be very dangerous.  These tips can help keep you safe around dams.

Read and pay attention to warning signs near dams.  They are there to keep you safe.  Even if you know of people who have been swimming near a dam for years, read the signs and stay out of the water if the signs say it isn't safe. Always exercise caution when boating, hiking or fishing near dams. Make sure you stay off the dam structures unless the area is clearly marked for public travel. Stay aware of your surroundings and be alert for changing water levels near dams.

 
Step Into Nature with a Magnifying Hike
Get up close to nature and take the children in your life on a magnifying hike.  Take a magnifying glass for each child and encourage them to explore their natural environment from a new perspective.  Take a look at flowers and plants and whatever you find through the magnifying glass.  Ask questions - what did you notice about that flower from far away?  What did you notice about it when you were close up?  What were some things you could only see with the magnifying glass?

Craft - Yogurt Cup Wind Chimes

Reuse some yogurt cups to make wind chimes.  You can talk to the children in your life about the importance of reusing items while making the craft.  All summer long you can enjoy the wind chimes.
 

Click here for craft instructions   

Species of the Month: Eastern Hog-Nosed Snake


Quinte Conservation's featured Species of the Month is the Eastern Hog-Nosed Snake.  This snake gets its name from its distinctive snout. They live from 12 to 15 years. These snakes have a variety of colors to them. You can find some with dark blotches and a lighter back colour like olive, tan, yellow or brown. Others have a dark solid colour usually gray or olive. They are thick skinned, have ridged scales and a wide neck that flattens out. The hog-nose can grow to just over a meter in length.

The Eastern Hog-Nosed lives in places like fields, forests, shrub land and specifically in areas with sandy and moist soils so that the snakes can burrow in the ground. When it comes to breeding the female snakes lay between 7 and 37 eggs in spring and late summer. There eggs are either buried in sand, under logs, leaves or rocks.  The most common food for the Hog-Nosed is toads as well as small birds, bird eggs and young or smaller snakes.

When the Hog-Nosed feels threatened it will raise its head and flatten its neck like a cobra. Then it hisses loudly and jolts towards the threat.   It is not a dangerous snake to humans, but many are killed because people think they are venomous.  
The Hog-Nosed is at risk because of reduction in their natural habitat and human activity.

 
In This Issue
Wildwood Academy
A fun, all weather playgroup

Family Space and Quinte Conservation have teamed up to provide an exciting outdoor play-based learning program at Potter's Creek Conservation Area in Belleville.  Activities are geared toward toddlers and pre-schoolers.The program runs every Friday from 9:30 am - 11:30 am.

Click here to find out more about Wildwood Academy
Stay Connected with Quinte Conservation
Quinte Conservation has a wide variety of e-newsletters that cover topics such as camping, source water protection, flood information and more.  Click the link below for a complete list of newsletters we offer. 
Trees
Contact Us
Quinte Conservation
RR # 2, 2061 Old Highway 2
Belleville, ON
K8N 4Z2

email: info@quinteconservation.ca
Phone: (613) 968-3434 or (613) 354-3312
www.quinteconservation.ca
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