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Mill Creek event focuses on animal tracks
By NATALIE SCOTT
Mill Creek Park offered a Footprints in the Snow lesson Dec. 6 for parents and children, with nearly 20 children attendings event. The lesson was led by John Beitzel, a staff member at the Ford Nature Center.
As children colored an animal print coloring sheet, Beitzel read them a story about the different types of prints animals leave as they walk and the places to look for them. Then they worked on a craft — painting different animal prints, made from plaster, and covering them with glitter to create ornaments to hang off of Christmas trees. Footprints used for the ornaments included deer, foxes, raccoons, mountain lions, bears and more.
“Although, you had better make sure you have a pretty strong tree for the mountain lion or the bear one,” Beitzel joked.
The lesson ended with a short hike around the Ford Nature Center to see what kinds of animal prints the children could find. Children pointed excitedly into dirt areas when they found the first sets — wild turkey. Earlier on the hike, the wild turkeys were seen as they made their way into the park.
The Mill Creek MetroParks hosts a variety of activities throughout the year. To learn more about future events, visit www.millcreekmetroparks.org or call 330-740-7112.