The 2016 Cache Your Way program is over but the cache remains for the fun of it!
About the Site
A bur oak grove lies west of the lake. Within the woodlands, a variety of trees including shagbark hickory, aspen, black walnut, basswood, black cherry trees, and red, white, and bur oaks. The strong branches on these trees provide favorable nesting places for larger birds such as red-tailed hawks and great horned owls, while the hollows and holes in the trees provide habitat for smaller wildlife like woodpeckers, screech owls and flying squirrels. Coyote, deer, raccoons, groundhogs, grey squirrels and opossums also live here and their tracks can often be seen along the banks of the pond and creek.
Many shallow, ephemeral ponds exist along the trails. These seasonal wetlands provide crucial habitat for salamanders, Blanding’s turtles, American toads and chorus frogs during the spring and early summer months. Other wetland features throughout the site are sedge meadows or shallow marshes. Native plants such as wild geranium, Solomon’s seal, wild onion, Joe Pie weed, and sedges are becoming more abundant in restored areas at Rush Creek. Several species of wildflowers scatter the forest floor, including May apple, shooting star, violet, and trillium. Other wildflowers in the prairie and wet meadow include sunflower, yellow coneflower, aster, wild geranium, cardinal flower, and marsh marigold.
White Nose Syndrome
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emergent disease of hibernating bats that has spread from the northeastern to the central United States at an alarming rate. Since the winter of 2007-2008, millions of insect-eating bats in 25 states and five Canadian provinces have died from this devastating disease. The disease is named for the white fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, that infects skin of the muzzle, ears, and wings of hibernating bats.
Current estimates of bat population declines in the northeastern US since the emergence of WNS are approximately 80%. This sudden and widespread mortality associated with WNS is unprecedented in hibernating bats, among which disease outbreaks have not been previously documented. It is unlikely that species of bats affected by WNS will recover quickly because most are long-lived and have only a single pup per year. Consequently, even in the absence of disease, bat populations do not fluctuate widely in numbers over time.
Cache Your Way Question
For many years’ what has been the most common bat found on District sites but very recently has seen reductions in population sizes as great as 50% due to white nose syndrome?
To learn how to participate in the GeoSeries and earn a special District geocoin visit MCCDistrict.org/Geocache
Geocachers
Please join us in playing! Geocaching is a high-tech “treasure hunting” game played throughout the world by adventure seeker. All are welcome who observe and obey the rules.
- Please do not move or vandalize the container.
- Once you find it, log your name in the book, take a trinket and leave one of your own behind for the next person.
- Replace the cache in the same spot that you found it, and make sure it is completely covered.
- Please do not remove the informational card from the containers, this is an essential game piece for cachers completing the GeoSeries.
- The real treasure is finding the container and sharing your thoughts with everyone who finds it.
For a complete list of rules and instructions on how to earn a special district geocoin visit MCCDistrict.org/Geocache
Email geocaching@MCCDistrict.org with any questions or concerns
McHenry County Conservation District Information
Visit our website at MCCDistrict.org or call (815) 338-6223
Photo Release
5/20/2021 Photos posted here may be featured on the McHenry County Conservation District's various social media accounts including Facebook, Instagram, and twitter, as well as our website (MCCDistrict.org) and print material such as Landscapes Magazine. By posting photos to this log you agree to allow us to share your work. Photographers will be acknowledged in any shares or posts of photos, so please include your name in your post if it is different from that of your username.