Effie Yeaw

Yesterday we went to the Effie Yeaw Nature Center. It is in Carmichael right across the river from where we live. There is a little center with a few live animals and a natural history exhibit. There is also a nature trail that loops by the river.

When we got there a naturalist was looking for people to take on a guided nature walk. Most of the families were turning him down and we tried to say no because we didn't think it would be fun with Ava, but somehow we got roped into it. The group only included us and a mother and son. They didn't stay with the guide the whole time, so we got a hour guided nature walk almost to ourselves. The naturalist taught us a lot about the vegetation and was quite knowledgeable. The only problem was I didn't have much of a chance to take photos and play with my new lens.

During our walk Ava was really tired. Rich ended up carrying her most of the time. She did well even though she probably would have rather been at home in her crib. It turned out to be a blessing that Ava was carried because midway through our walk as we paused to look at a tree a heard a noise moving through the brush. I turned around and saw a rattlesnake about 5 feet away. It freaked me out, but was exciting at the same time. I was glad when our guide said this variety of rattlesnake was not aggressive.

After our walk we toured the center. Ava loved the owls and keep saying, "Who Who." She also enjoyed looking at the exhibit. By this time she was crazy tired and running all around with her manic energy. We finally had to pick her up and take her out because she did not want to leave.

Rich & Ava by the pond.

Our group headed on the guided nature walk.
This is a chrysalis for a Pipeline Swallowtail Butterfly.

Do you see it?

This is the Rattlesnake we encountered on our walk.

This is a beehive burrowed into a Black Walnut tree.

Bees in the butterfly garden.

This was Ava's favorite animal at the center. This is a very old Horned Owl. It was blind in one eye and had problems with one of its talons. The guide said it probably won't live much longer.

This is a stuffed Beaver in the natural history part of the center.