The Remington Nature Center of St. Joseph
WHERE HISTORY AND NATURE COLLIDE...
Nature News
Spring 2016
Meet Our New Naturalist!
During the past eight years, we have developed our educational programming
and this year we were able to hire a part
time naturalist who will be able to exclusively dedicate time to programming,
outreach, and animal education. We are
thrilled to have you meet our new addition, Mrs. Shelly Cox!
Shelly grew up in Northwest Missouri
and has spent her whole life exploring
and learning about the wild outdoors.
Animals always drew her attention and
she has a special fondness for all creatures, although her personal favorites are
snakes, bats, spiders and insects.
She works extensively with youth in the
region through her efforts with 4H, FFA,
and her past job as a naturalist with the
Missouri Department of Conservation.
She enjoys introducing children to all the
great local flora and fauna.
Shelly is a founding member and currently serves as secretary to the Pony Express
Amphibian & Reptile Society that meets
in St. Joseph. She created and manages
Fish ing
feed renzy
f
By Andrea McCoy, Manager
an online blog entitled “MObugs,” designed to educate people of all ages on
the importance of the “Smaller Majority.”
Shelly became a member of the Remington Nature Center team in February. She
will be able to introduce live elements
into programming at the nature center,
and has several snakes, spiders and a tortoise to share with her groups. She has
seven unique programs already developed for programming. We are thrilled to
have her on board, and look forward to
what she will continue to do for the Remington Nature Center!
Upcoming
C ra ft
Eve n t s
Saturday, March 12
1-3pm
Cave Drawings - You’ve seen the
cave paintings in our “time tunnel.”
Now is the time to make one yourself!
Saturday, March 26
1-3pm
Butterfly Life Cycle - Coming out
of the cold, dark winter we welcome
spring and new life by creating a
Butterfly Life Cycle.
Saturday, April 30
1-3pm
Busy as a Bee - Use your fingerprints and cereal to create your own
beehive picture to take home. Then,
make a bee for the RNC Group Hive!
10:30am, EVERY Friday
Come help us cut up worms to feed the Missouri River fish
who live in our 7,000 gallon aquarium. Their diet consists of
minnows, worms, corn, and peas.
photos...
February Childrens Craft Edible igloos...
Photos by Jocelyn Weir
Let’s Talk Turkey!
By Barbara Russell, Administrative Technician
Spanish explorers discovered turkeys in Mexico in 1571. Explorers carried them back
to Europe, so the Pilgrims were familiar with turkeys when they arrived in North
America. In the early 1900s, there were only 30,000 wild turkeys in North America. Today, there are nearly 7 million. State and national wildlife groups have worked to protect the bird and its habitat. Here are some fun and interesting facts about turkeys:
• Wild turkeys can hear very well, although they don’t have any ears that stick out.
They see well during the daytime, but not at night.
• Wild turkeys can fly as fast as 55 miles per hour for short distances. They can walk
as fast as 20 miles per hour.
• Male turkeys are “toms” or “gobblers.” Females are “hens.” Babies are “poults.”
• Turkeys have from 5,000 to 6,000 feathers. When he wants to show off to attract
a mate, a tom turkey spreads out his tail feathers and struts.
• Poults eat berries, seeds and insects. Adults eat acorns, insects and small reptiles.
• After a hen has mated, she starts looking for a place thick with plants so she can
hide the shallow nest she scrapes out of the ground.
• Wild turkeys are on the ground during the day and roost in trees at night.
John James Audubon knew birds.
He was one of the best artists ever
to draw birds in natural, lifelike
settings. It took him many years to
create his “Birds of America” folio. In
the folio were 435 watercolor images of 1,065 birds of 489 different
species. The first bird in Audubon’s
book was the wild turkey. Audubon
wrote: “The great size and beauty
of the wild turkey, its value as a delicate and prized article of food render it one of the most interesting
birds in the United States.”
1502 MacArthur Drive
St. Joseph, MO 64505
816-271-5499
www.facebook.com/RemingtonNatureCenter
www.stjoenaturecenter.info
Hours:
Monday-Saturday
10am - 5pm
Sunday
1pm - 5pm
Admission
Adults: $3
Seniors: $2
Youth (4-15): $1
3 and under: Free
Closed on...
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
President’s Day
Easter
Thanksgiving
Christmas Eve
Christmas
New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Day