Cats' Field Trips

Seed Collecting	High Ropes Course
Tree Planting	Teams Course
Walk for Wildlife	Spring Clean Up
Caving	Wildlife Refuge Tour
Crystal Digging	Canoeing
Rock Climbing	Arboretum Clean Up

SEED COLLECTING

Each year, in a cooperative effort with the Nature Conservancy, about forty-five students travel to an "acorn-rich" corner of Southern Illinois to collect thousands of acorns which are stored for planting at a later date. This working trip is one part of the Cats' involvement in the Cache River Wetlands Restoration Project, a project the Cats have supported with both labor and funding from the start.

TREE PLANTING ALONG THE CACHE RIVER

This annual mudlushious event is as much a test of a member's stamina as it is a test of his or her commitment to the conservation movement. Sometimes knee-deep in Cache River Wetlands mud, the Cats plant thousands of acorns (one every three feet) over 40 to 60 acres of reclaimed farmland. If we're not planting an acorn every three feet, we're planting oak and cypress seedlings every twelve feet or so. In either case, we plant an entire forest every year: the club is definitely growing!

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WALK FOR WILDLIFE/CAMPING TRIP

An important part of the Cats' agenda each year, the Walk For Wildlife is the method we use to make fairly large sums of money which we donate to the Illinois Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. Forty to sixty Cats participate annually,* collecting enough sponsorships to enable us to donate up to $2500.00 each year. As a partner in the Cache River Wetlands Project, the Conservation Cats usually request that this money be used for new land acquisition; there is a lot more land down there in need of preservation. The Cats now have a lifetime membership in the Conservancy as a result of our efforts. The walk is the reward. It consists of a two-day camping trip complete with dinners, Walk For Wildlife T-shirts, an environmental folk singer around the campfire, and a beautiful 8-mile walk through the wild hills of the Shawnee National Forest down near Bell Smith Springs. We present the check to the Nature Conservancy on the second day of the walk.

CAVING NEAR MEREMEC STATE PARK

A two-day overnight camping trip to Missouri, this annual event requires that students sacrifice 2 complete sets of clothes in the name of adventure. Cats who are able to participate experience spelunking in the true sense of the word. Crawling through primitive, formation-rich caves using high-powered caving lights and helmets recently purchased by the club, the students learn about cave ecology, geology and preservation (which is second only to the thrill of getting "so muddy, so fast"). The students come home from this trip with a genuine appreciation for the underground world of caves, and an excellent set of memories. Every year as the news of the adventure spreads through the school upon our return, we acquire several new members.

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CRYSTAL DIGGING NEAR HOT SPRINGS ARKANSAS

A 450-mile trip in a school bus packed three Cats to a seat, and nobody complains! This annual three-day camping trip gives the Cats the opportunity to collect beautiful quartz crystals and crystal masses for their own collections. Although another usually muddy event, the Cats are never short of chaperones for this trip; and needless to say, the bus is riding a little bit lower on the way home! We alternate between the two mines each year, so an energetic Cat can get clear crystals one year, and foggy-black crystals known as "phantom crystals" the next.

ROCK CLIMBING AND RAPELLING COURSE IN GIANT CITY STATE PARK

Each Fall, about 50 Conservation Cats experience the thrill of climbing an 80-foot sandstone cliff face, and then walking backwards off the same cliff in order to rappel to the ground. This experience is, without a doubt, one of the biggest confidence builders of the year. The camaraderie which develops among the members is incredible and has proven to be quite an asset in all of our conservation endeavors which follow throughout the year.

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HIGH ROPES COURSE -- GIANT CITY STATE PARK

For this adventure, the Conservation Cats wear a body harness and a helmet to traverse a series of obstacles which are strung between four 70-foot-tall telephone poles. Level one is tame enough, but the third and highest level is a challenge for even the bravest of adults -- let alone 7th and 8th-graders. The Cats get down from the course via a handle attached to a pulley which is attached to a 3000-foot-long zip-line!

TOUCH OF NATURE TEAMS COURSE -- GIANT CITY STATE PARK

Usually scheduled for the beginning of the year, this course teaches the Cats the value of teamwork in accomplishing any goal. Laughing, sweating, and thinking, the Cats are put through a series of ground obstacles -- all of which require problem-solving skills and a team effort. From hanging ropes and tires to "the sausage grinder", the students spend a couple of weekend days getting tired, getting muddy, and getting to know each other in a very real way.

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CARBONDALE CLEAN and GREEN'S SPRING CLEAN-UP

With an active crew of at least 30 or 40 members each year, the Cats have won first in our category (Large Community Group) since the Cats were created, taking a second place only once. Our group usually grows by 10 to 15 students as Ex-Cats, now in High School, join our group to collect with us each year.

CRAB ORCHARD NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE TOUR

A special privilege has been granted to the Conservation Cats -- the opportunity to tour the closed sections of the refuge when the goose population is at its peak. I remember well the look on the Cats' faces as we approached the water crawling on our bellies and, due to some disturbance, (hopefully not us) 300,000 geese took wing; it was an unforgettable experience.

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CANOEING IN THE CACHE RIVER WETLANDS

Each year the Cats have the pleasure of paddling a flotilla of canoes through the beautiful wildlands of the Cache River wetlands. We usually leave on Friday night and return on Saturday night, which gives us the opportunity to hear the wonderful night sounds of a southern Illinois swamp. The trip is usually on of the first camping trips, scheduled for early to middle October.

ARBORETUM CLEAN-UP

Each year, the Cats get together with the local Audubon chapter, and the Friends of the Marberry Arboretum to "work up a sweat" weeding and pruning. We clear exotics and other unwanted species from the property, then settle down to a thannk you lunch after taking a guided nature tour.

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