The Keep Greene Beautiful Conservation Camp, which began Monday and continues through today, has exposed 450 local fifth-grade students to the natural world and the need to conserve and protect it.

Students walked short distances between several outdoor "learning stations" set up at Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park near Limestone to hear a variety of presentations on conservation, the environment, and wildlife.

Marty Silver, the naturalist at Warriors' Path State Park near Kingsport, talked to the youngsters on "habitats."

The students already knew that a "habitat" is the set of conditions that an animal needs to survive, and that "different living things need different habitats," as he put it.

Silver said the pine thicket clearing where he gave his talk is the perfect habitat for possum, deer and squirrels, for example, and even a mountain lion could probably survive there.

Different creatures need different "tools" to survive. For example, Silver said, a cricket's habitat is full of predators who consider crickets "a crunchy snack," so powerful legs for leaping away and eyes mounted on stalks are excellent "tools" for a cricket's survival.

Crickets like to eat rotting plants, Silver said. When a few children wrinkled their noses, he asked them, "What would our earth smell like if nothing ate the rotting plants?" The students got the point.

Some animals like to eat spice berries, Silver said, and the Cherokee Indians used the strong-flavored berry in their cooking, Silver said. But the student who volunteered to try a spice berry wasted no time spitting it out.

Some animals like to eat "small, furry animals," Silver said. These animals do not "hate" the animals they eat, Silver said, they just consider them to be "yummy in my tummy."

All About Owls

One animal that specializes in pest control in the forest is the owl. Silver brought a beautiful "Barred Owl" with him. The term "barred" means striped, he pointed out, and the owl's coloration was nearly identical to the bark of pine trees nearby.

The owl's practice of eating cute fuzzy animals might sound cruel, Silver told the students, "but if nothing ate the cute, fuzzy animals, the woods would be overrun with them" in no time at all, "and you would be shoveling mice off your driveway."

Owls are ideally equipped with the right "tools" for their job, Silver said. With their huge eyes, owls not only have better night vision than do humans, he said, they have better day vision, as well.

Owls can see very fine details at distances, except that they don't see color, he said.
They can also turn their heads nearly 360 degrees, he pointed out, though it is not true that they can turn their heads completely around.

Owls have virtually no sense of smell, Silver told the students, "but they can hear a mouse's footsteps 200 feet away." They also have "almost silent wings" to carry them that distance, and "meat hooks" on their feet to help with grabbing and tearing. He raised the owl next to his ear, and it flapped its wings, as if on command.

Silver said his owl was hit by a car, and could have recovered fully if it had received prompt veterinary care, but it did not. So now the owl lives at Warriors' Path State Park and accompanies Silver when he gives talks.

He said the owl has become so accustomed to his talks that it seems to know when he wants it to flap its wings, or turn its head.

It was obvious that Silver, the father of six, enjoys showing wildlife to children, but he also told them, "You don't need a park or an ugly park ranger to see wildlife. You've got eyes," and in East Tennessee, he said, wildlife is never far away, if you keep looking.

Silver's talk was compressed into 20 fast minutes, then a horn blew and the students moved to the next "class."

More 'Classes'

Franci Sloan of Hands On! Regional Museum used the porch of the Crockett birthplace replica cabin as her classroom. She talked about the history of the Cherokees, and how they found or made or grew everything they needed.

Heather Mott, who spends her usual workdays on permits for underground storage tanks, as an employee of the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation, has spent three of her mornings this week talking to fifth-graders about rocks and geology.

Jan Compton, another TDEC employee, told students about the importance of living in an "environmentally friendly household."

Doing that, she explained, involves the "three Rs," which in this case stands for the need to reduce consumption of paper and plastic, to reuse them when possible, and to recycle when reuse isn't possible.

Roby McBride, the former Washington County solid waste director, and his wife, May, gave their "trash talk" on recycling, as well, showing how things most people throw away can be made into useful new products such as carpet and socks.

Joe Solomon of Camp Explore at the Clyde Austin 4-H Center, showed the eager day-campers the skins of animals that can be found in Greene County today - the red and gray fox, raccoon, coyote, whitetail deer, bobcat (thus named because of its "bobbed" tail), the possum, the striped skunk - and fossils of others that once roamed here, or elsewhere in Tennessee.

The Camp Explore station's theme was "Living Treasures on Earth, Past and Present."
Jonathan McNutt and Brian Stewart, both employees of the Tennessee Valley Authority, showed the fifth-graders part of the variety of wildlife to be found in the Nolichucky River.

They explained the river's food chain to fifth-graders from Tusculum View Elementary School, and the importance of keeping pollution out of streams.

The students showed considerable interest in water bugs and snails, and the yellow-bellied bullhead, a catfish relative caught with a net on Monday near the park.

A Learning Opportunity

"Conservation camp is a wonderful learning opportunity for the students of Greeneville and Greene County and is a creative way to teach science in a natural environment that reinforces state curriculum" said Jennifer Reynolds, director of Keep Greene Beautiful.

She said a total of 450 fifth-graders from nine area schools will have attended the event when it concludes.

Mark Halback, director of Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park, said he was pleased that the park is serving as the site of conservation camp for the third year. The park is relatively level, with plenty of bus parking, easy access to bathrooms and to the river.

He said using a state park for a day camp like this "is Tennessee state parks at its best, working in conjunction with the education system, other state agencies and private citizens dedicated to providing multiple lessons in conservation and environmental protection. It's great!"

The event is also sponsored by TVA, the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance, DTR Tennessee, and the Greeneville Woman's Club.