Homestead Conservation

Moving Forward and Beyond This project became a family affair over the semester, sparking a shared enjoyment and increased knowledge of fireflies and woodland turtles. I wish that there had been more community outreach program opportunities during this semester so that I could’ve documented it but in the spring my children are interested in trying to go to the upcoming spring meeting in May. The  Virginia Herpetological Society  and the North Carolina Herpetological Society partnered to host an event in Halifax County, VA. The event has drawn over 40 participants, who will be exploring different sections of the park to create a comprehensive species checklist. Spending time outside at parks and in our yard searching for and catching fireflies or spotting woodland turtles, has been a summertime favorite and I am sure we will continue in the future. My children and I have been fascinated by the clever ways fireflies have inspired biomimicry, and we've loved discovering the histo...

Did you know? Question: How many states in the United States of America claim the firefly as their state insect? Answer: The Firefly is the state insect for Pennsylvania and Tennessee!   History In 1974 a group of elementary age students in Pennsylvania petitioned to designate the Firefly as the state insect after being inspired by the knowledge of Maryland’s adoption of the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly as its state insect. These determined young students collectively petitioned to have the firefly designated as Pennsylvania's state insect (Ogando, 2024). Their remarkable initiative ultimately led to the firefly being officially designated as Pennsylvania's state insect on April 10, 1974. In 1975 the state of Tennessee adopted both the firefly and the ladybug as their state insect and in 1990 expanded its list of state insects to include an agriculture insect, the honeybee ( Tennessee Department of State , 2025). The fireflies unique characteristic of bioluminescent display...

Early Morning Crossing This morning on my way to run some early morning errands I came across a woodland turtle crossing the road. Since the road was slow one lane country road I was able to stop and help them across safely. It was exciting since it has been a few weeks since I last spotted one. I believe the early morning and light rain were the perfect conditions to spot one. Once home I recorded my sighting. I have uploaded a picture of the turtle on the class discussion board.

Summer Night Lights! Over the past week, my kids and I have spent our evenings at dusk counting and recording the fireflies we've seen. Truth be told that photographing them is tremendously hard and my phone camera would lighten the background, so the fireflies’ lights faded in the photos. Nevertheless, I have posted a fun close up on our class discussion board. Recording My Findings Once you have signed up and verified your email with Firefly Atlas, recording your findings is simple. I was able to record each night’s finds easily by saving my site location. This makes it easier for future nights to use the same location. Like when recording the Woodland turtle, you must know your location in longitudinal and latitudinal directions. I was able to use GoogleEarth to retrieve this information, and it was fairly quick. Once you record this information you can easily continue to record your findings, especially like mentioned above, when you save some of your favorite locations.

  Spotted a Woodland Turtle! Today as I was walking through my yard to my garden I spotted a Woodland turtle! I often find these turtles in my quiet neighborhood crossing the road or near our creek. It was a surprise to find them near my pear tree enjoying the sun and munching on some grass. I may have spooked them by taking some pictures but needless to say they were a good sport and “smiled” for the camera. Filling out my reporting on the,  Virginia Herpetological Society , was easy and simple. I will admit that providing all my personal information felt a little much but I understand that by providing the information it adds to validity to the integrity of the entry. *Disclosure I will posting pictures on Canvas due to the cost of posting pictures on this blog.

This summer, and possibly beyond, I'll be tracking and recording sightings of fireflies and woodland box turtles. I plan to spend two to three nights a week outside spotting fireflies. For the woodland box turtles, I often see them crossing the road, which is when I stop to move them, or find them in my yard. Documenting and Training for Firefly Sightings Below are the steps to take on the Firefly Atlas website: ·       Find information about how to survey for  13 focal species ; ·       Access survey protocols and species identification materials; ·       Submit observational data, including  photos ; ·       Identify the fireflies in your photos, with the potential for verification by experts; ·       Download a  species checklist  for your state or province of interest; ·   ...

Understanding and Protecting the Woodland Box Turtles The  Virginia Herpetological Society  was founded in 1958 and offers public education and trainings on identifying local amphibians and reptiles and conserving their habitats. Twice a year they publish research that contains field notes and information that has been submitted by its members. On their website you can report local sightings of the  Woodland Box Turtle  as well as the  Virginia Eastern Spadefoot Frog . The Slow Pace of the Woodland Box Turtle The Woodland Box Turtle has a wide geographic range, extending from southeastern Maine to the Great Lakes region and south through Virginia to Texas and northern Florida. With a home range of close to 2 acres and a speed of approximately 0.25 mph, the Woodland Box turtles typically can be found near ponds or meadows with hatchings and juvenile turtles primarily inhabiting streams and ponds ( Species Spotlight - Woodland Box Turtle (U.S. National Park Servic...