User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
In the city, green spaces tend to be limited. Luckily, my apartment’s backyard is one that I could only dream of as a renter. I live on the ground floor of a 5 story apartment building. My apartment has a small, fenced patio which faces a shared green space between all the tenants.
Behind the green space, there is a beautiful path that leads a very large forested area (large for being in the city). In that forested area, there is another path that goes on for kilometres, winding through the trees, following a river. Very close to home, in the forest, there is a 2 square km area that I’ve been conveniently using as an off leash dog park. It is a place I go to almost every day. This is the area that I have decided to observe for this experiment.
I call it the peninsula in the woods, which is very accurate. It is an area that is surrounded by a river and is only connected to the land by one very small portion. The best way to describe it would be “wild”. There are as many live, healthy trees as there are dead ones. It seems that the main beings tampering with the land are deer, carving random trails through the brush, laying down and leaving concentrated spots of flattened grass. There are broken branches scattered everywhere. I’ve observed two areas where humans may have been recently. The first one being a couple of wood planks nailed to a tree, a possible tree house in the making? However, it hasn’t changed in a year. The second being a couple of large tree trunks laid down horizontally surrounding an area where there seems to have been a fire pit at some point. Once again, this place hasn’t changed in a year. Vegetation of all sorts can be found here. I’ve seen various types of moss, tall grasses, small bushes, large bushes and trees of all kinds. I would have to spend some time specifically to identify the vegetation, it isn’t my forte. I have seen many beavers in the water. There is a dam in the river that’s been flooded. That dam was built over the summer. As well, during the night, it is very common to hear coyotes howling nearby. Almost too close for comfort. It is precisely the reason why I don’t let my cat out in the night.
Potential Subjects:
- As the cold temperatures arrive, the shallow river will begin to freeze. It could be interesting to try measuring wildlife activity as it gets colder. I could walk through and note all the signs of animal activity. Then, over the next while keep track of any changes in the ecosystem all while keeping in mind the temperature.
- Moss has always been an interesting topic for me. It is said that moss grows on the north side of trees. I have always wondered if that was true. This could be a great opportunity to go through and record the location of moss on trees to see if it demonstrates accurately the cardinal points.
- Just by listening to them, it seems the coyotes are dangerously close to the buildings. I would like to find out how daring they actually are by tracking them and finding the closest signs of their presence. With that, I could search the peninsula, but also other parts of the forest surrounding my building. I could look for feces, fur, tracks, etc.
