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Adventuring along the creek

It was a perfect spring for adventuring by the creek. Many years Scallion Creek in Virden is a torrent with all the run-off, this year there was not as much snow to melt.

It was a perfect spring for adventuring by the creek. Many years Scallion Creek in Virden is a torrent with all the run-off, this year there was not as much snow to melt. So, while the water was briskly flowing and clear, it wasn’t dangerous for my little ones, nor was it stagnant and murky like it will be later in summer.

Our adventures started with finding lots of small snail shells around the footbridge early in the spring. As we got better at hunting for shells, we started finding ones as large as two inches in length, and some were even blue!

Early in the spring, we were excited to see thousands of minnows swimming around down by the footbridge. The water was literally black with them in some spots. Even more exciting was that some of them made it so far upstream as to end up in the drainage ditch between Clements Place and Bolton Bay. How neat to have minnows right behind our house.

Big critters
Our first really big find was a large crayfish in the shallows near the bank, close to Virden Junior High School. It had blue claws, and was approximately the size of my iPhone 5. From what I know that is very large for a crayfish. It looked like a small lobster. Our next big find was both sides of a clam in the middle of the creek just upstream of the footbridge. It measured three and three-quarter inches across. I wondered if it might be a total fluke find, as I couldn’t imagine clams living in our creek, until a couple of weeks later, at the same spot that we saw the large crayfish, my son yelled that he had found something “really
cool,” and showed me a large clam half buried in the mud about a foot above the water line. Its shell was open about half an inch, and its body/innards were all still inside of it.

I wasn’t sure if it was alive or dead, so we quickly put it in a pail of creek water in the hopes that it would be okay. It must have gotten stuck too high above the water line when the water started going down. After a few days of watching it, we were pretty convinced it had expired. It measured four inches across.

Along with the minnows, clams, and crayfish, we have found many frogs, worms, leeches, and at least four different species of snails, including one land snail (according to our amateur investigations). We have yet to find one particular snail that we seek, alive, although we have found many empty shells of its kind and will continue looking.

We have been absolutely delighted to spend so many hours and days down by the creek this spring. It is an absolute treasure to have in this town, and we are so blessed to have the opportunity to be discovering some of the neat creatures that make it their home.

Litterbugs
Unfortunately, one of the most populous “creature” that seems to make its home in or around the creek is the “litterbug.” I bring bags along with us on our walks and adventures, and we pick up garbage
as we go. Unfortunately, we often have to stop collecting garbage for one of two reasons: If we picked up every single piece of litter we saw, we would never get anywhere; and we often simply run out of
room in our bags and/ or wagons.

My kids (ages one, three and five, and a two-year-old friend who often joins us on our outings) and I spent one morning cleaning just the drainage ditch from west of Thomas Drive to where it enters the creek just off Ninth Avenue. We filled three garbage bags, and had to quit because the wagon was full. We could have filled at least one more garbage bag. What a sad stain on our beautiful and bountifully populated creek.

So, those are some of the highlights of our spring adventures down by the creek. I hope it encourages more people to get out and discover what a treasure it is. I hope that it also inspires our community to not only be diligent in littering less, but to do their part (and to encourage their children as well), in helping clean up our town. Every little bit helps, and it’s worth it to leave our children
the legacy of a clean and healthy creek, and a strong sense of community- mindedness and environmental/social responsibility.

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