Your Adventure Kit

Backpack

New York State Parks Regional Environmental Education Office

YAK Backpack
Welcome to Your Adventure Kit. Before you embark on your adventure, take a minute to check out the trail map in you pack, and the activities weve packed for you. Your YAK Pack contains :

Flapper For the Birds Sound Detectives Hopper Lord of the Tree Rings

Leaf Matching Simple Science Take a Closer Look How Seeds Travel Eye on the Weather

On your return hike (after stop 10) try:

Scavenger Hunt Colors of the Forest Letters of the Forest Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for the signs of the wildlife that call Connetquot home.

To Safely enjoy your YAK Pack adventure: Avoid brushing against plants. Avoid brushing against plants to avoid ticks and poison ivy. Check clothing for ticks before you leave. Check yourself for ticks when you get home. Be alert for any symptoms that might occur 2-12 days after the bite . (like a rash, fever, soreness, etc.)

Leaves of three, let it be.

Stop 1: History of Connetquot

Connetquot River State Park Preserves history begins with the Secatogue Native Americans, who lived along the banks of this river. They gave the Connetquot River its name, which means Great River. As Long Island became more settled, Eliphalet Snedecor constructed a tavern in 1820 to provide a stage coach stop for travelers heading East. In 1866 a wealthy group of Snedecors patrons purchased the tavern and the 879 acres of land surrounding it, and established The South Side Sportsmens Club of Long Island. The club continued purchasing land surrounding the river over the years, eventually totaling 3,473 acres. The clubs main interests were hunting and fishing.

In 1963 the club sold the property to New York State for $6.2 million. It was officially named a New York State Park in 1973, and was declared a State Park Preserve in 1978. On your way to the second stop you will pass the paddock where the sportsmen kept their horses. Keep your eye out for White-tail deer grazing there. Connetquot means __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __.
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Stop 2:
Here we suggest scanning the area for birds and insects like crickets, grasshoppers, butterflies and more! Try these activities:

For the Birds (in the bird pouch) Flapper (in the bird pouch) Take a closer look (in the insect pouch)

Sound Detectives
Stand perfectly still for one minute without making any noise. Count, in your head, how many different sounds you hear. What types of sounds did you hear? What do you think made each sound?

These beautiful little birds are the state birds of New York and Missouri. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Use your compass to orient to 320 to view their nest boxes.
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Stop 3: The Kennel Field

The sportsmen used to house their hunting dogs in this field, but now white tailed deer like to feed here. The deers white tail is a way of communicating. When they flick their tail, the bright white stands out and warns the other deer in the area of danger. It also tells the predator that it shouldn't waste its energy chasing the deer because it will already have a head start. Every year the males grow antlers in early spring. They shed them in late fall, making it hard to tell the bucks from the does the rest of the year.

Photo by Bob Lanuski

Try the hopper activity in your YAK Pack to see if you can jump as far as a deer can!
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Stop 4: The Struggle for Sunshine

Growing in the shade of trees is a struggle that many forest plants face. When a tree falls and opens up a patch of sunlight, plants quickly sprout to fill the gap. How do their seeds get there?

Try the How Seeds Travel activity in the pouch in your pack to find out!

The __ __ __ __ __ is an important source of food for wildlife. Orient to 100 and use your tree guide to identify the tree that produces this tasty nut.
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Stop 5:
Take a look at the tree cookie in your Y.A.K pack to read the weather of the past! The forest that you will be traveling through as you make your way to the hatchery is a great example of pine barrens habitat. Forest fires are important for the pine barrens. They are natures way of making space for new growth.

Can you spot the signs of a forest fire from the past? Look for trees that have thin trunks and some that have more than 1 trunk. Orient to 260 to view an oak tree with a double stem. This is a sign of a __ __ __ __ from the past. Try the leaf matching activity on the clip board and in the tree pouch to see if you can match the leaf to its tree.
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Stop 6: Freddie Fungus and Alice Algae took a lichen to each other.
Lichens are made up of two different organisms living in a symbiotic relationship, meaning that they both help each other. The fungus provides the algae with a place to live and keeps it from drying out, while the algae make food that feeds the fungus.

Can you think of any other plants and animals that live in symbiosis? Try the Critters in Cahoots puzzle in your pack to learn more.

This lichen is growing on an__ __ __ tree 20 from you. Because they only grow on the bark and branches of the tree, lichen do not hurt the tree that they live on.
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Fun Fact:

The oak apple gall (above), despite its name, is not a fruit! It actually houses the growing larvae of a harmless wasp. See if you can spot the golf-ball sized egg cases as you hike. Sometimes you can see a small hole where the grown wasp burrowed out, and if broken open, a fuzzy interior is revealed. Dont worry, this type of gall forming wasp does not sting.
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Stop 7:
You will be passing many fields like this one on your hike. They are loved by deer, rabbits, foxes, and especially the bobwhite quail. Bobwhite quail are named for their whistle-like call. These quail are especially helpful to people because they feed on ticks as well as insects and plant seeds.

Photo by Bob Labuski

The chicks of these birds can fly as soon as 2 weeks after hatching! Ask about our adopt-a-quail program at the gift shop to help bobwhite chicks in this park.
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Stop 8:
Bats are a fascinating nocturnal animal. Their vision at night can be as good, if not better than ours, but their best way of getting around is through their hearing. Bats, like dolphins, use echolocation to find their prey and move around. They make a clicking or squeaking sound and wait for it to bounce back.

The amount of time it takes the sound to bounce back lets them know how close they are to different objects. This makes bats excellent hunters, and a single bat will eat up to 600 mosquitoes in one hour!

Orient 180 to view a __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __. They have the opening on the bottom, while bird houses have the opening on the front.
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Stop 9:
The pine trees that you see around you are pitch pines. Their blocky bark and unique cones make them easy to distinguish from the other evergreens you will see in the park. Feel the Oak bark and feel the Pine bark. Bark and leaves are some of the easiest ways to tell different kinds of trees apart.

Pitch Pine

White Oak

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Fun Fact:

The pitch pine makes 2 different types of cones (above). Most conifers have open cones which release the seeds when they fall, but are damaged by fire. The cones of the pitch pine are closed until the heat of a fire opens them. With these 2 types of cones, new pitch pines will grow with or without fire. Orient to 310 to see a pitch pine. Cones protect this trees __ __ __ __ __.

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Stop 10: The Trout Hatchery

This Trout Hatchery was constructed at its current location in 1890, and was successful at breeding trout for over a century. This wetland habitat is perfect for a variety of birds including herons, osprey, ducks, turtles, frogs, and more!

Here we recommend:

Simple Science For the Birds

This species of trout was introduced to New York in 1874, and has been a popular target of fisherman ever since. aqibrno __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Orient to 340 to see Rainbow Bridge.
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Fun Fact:
The Trout in the river attract many predators, especially osprey. These beautiful birds are often mistaken for bald eagles because of their white head. Osprey are excellent at catching fish. They spot them while soaring in the air, hover, and then plunge feet first into the water to grab the slippery fish with their sharp talons.

On your hike back to the Main Pond try: Letters of the Forest Scavenger Hunt Colors of the forest
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Stop 11: The Main Pond

The Main Pond is the final stop on your YAK pack adventure. The open pond habitat is a great place to view a variety of ducks. Use the binoculars and bird book in your bag to see what you can spot. Here we recommend:

Eye on the Weather Migration Madness

Fun Fact:
The water in the main pond is 8 feet deep at its deepest point. The pool next to the grist mill was the original site where the Sportsmens Club tried to stock trout. They installed a gate to stop the fish from traveling further down the river, but it was unsuccessful because predators like eels and osprey ate the trout once they were trapped.

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Orient to 20 and look closely at the trunk of that tree. Who pecked those holes? Use the field guide in your YAK Pack to identify the bird below to find out. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

This woodpecker uses its brush-like tongue to lap up the sap and trapped insects out of the holes that it pecks. To protect their brains from banging against their skull while they peck, a woodpeckers tongue wraps all the way around its brain like a built in helmet!
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We hope that you enjoyed your hike. Please take the time to fill out the short survey that can be found in your YAK Backpack.
New York State Parks Regional Environmental Education Office (631)581-1072