Days 26-30: Kid's Week

Our education camp, "Wildecamp", was host to a group of twelve year old children. As part of our internship, we were asked to take out a group of ten kids to a survey site each day this week. During that time, we would take them into a lake to demonstrate what we do each day.

Our group of turtle researchers selected a site which had previously yielded four turtle captures and numerous sitings. It was a short hike to the lake. The water was shallow and clear. The perfect set up for the kids to have the best chance finding turtles in the wild.

Turns out the site was too good to be true. Not only did we not see any turtles with any of the groups, we did not see any of the wildlife for which we survey. Maybe it was the fact the twelve year old kids think anything short of yelling at each other is "being quite". Maybe it was the heat driving the turtles deeper into the water. Your guess is as good as mine.

When we survey the lake sites, our whole team shows up with appropriate gear. Long pants with boots or Chest Waders are our daily uniform. The children arrived in shorts and water shoes. It was so hot that I did not think that it made much of a difference.

My assumption was wrong. Chest waders preclude me from all the things that bare skin might attract in a lake. Within 15 minutes of our first lake survey one of the boys had a leaf on his leg. When I looked down, I knew immediately that was no leaf. A simple touch confirmed that one of the youngsters who was under my care was now the host to a leech.  We find them on turtles all the time but I never considered that a human would be just as attractive.

I calmly reached down with my bare hands to remove the leech. No luck. The leech had already began to draw blood and slipped between my moistened fingers. Thankfully I had restocked my latex glove supply before heading out that morning. The gloved fingers were able to remove the leech with a firm tug. After removal, that boy decided to stay on the shore with another camper and a councilor who did not venture out into the water. My remaining campers all soldiered on to complete the survey.

When arriving back to the parking area, one camper had a much more engorged leech attached just above his ankle. As we were preparing to remove the leech, he looked at me through his thin rimmed prescription glasses...
"Is this going to hurt?"
"I don't know, I have never pulled a leech off myself."
"Is it alright if I swear when you pull it off?"
"Sure thing boss, just don't start crying on me."
...For the record, I'm told that it does not hurt.  I let him keep the leech as a souvenir.

Word spread quickly about the pond being filled with leeches and the next group of boys were quite polarized. Some stayed on the shore with a councilor. The majority decided that having a leech on them was a preteen badge of honor. Giving instructions on how to avoid leeches was more like giving them instructions on how to FIND the leeches. When they emerged from the lake, each one of them had bloody circles dotting their calfs and ankles. The lucky few boasted engorged leeches on their legs.

One boy was so attached to his new external parasites that he named them. The first leech he found was dubbed "Steve", the second was known as "Ozzy Osbourn". He refused removal and boarded the bus with leeches still attached. I was later told by another councilor that he put up quite a fight before Steve and Ozzy were finally deposited into alcohol for disposal.

Highlight: Three out of the Four groups told us that our survey was the best. Even though we didn't find any turtles, the kids still enjoyed seeing the tadpoles, beetles, dragonflies, damselflies and of course the leeches. I let a brave group of girls wade out into the water to check one of our empty turtle traps. They ended up shoulder deep in the water, sinking into mud holes and were thrilled about every step.

Lowlight: As previously stated, the groups were split between boys and girls. Several of the boys were not willing to get into the water with us for the survey. EVERY SINGLE GIRL GOT INTO THE WATER! Even after knowing that there were leeches in the pond! When the final group, all girls, finished the survey, I informed them that the girls were the only ones with 100% participation in our survey. They all replied, "Girls Rule, Boys Drool!" After this week, I was forced to agree...