Recently we took a trip onto the
Noland trail as a class and I had the opportunity to experience it
firsthand. As per the professors
instructions I tried to take in as much as possible noticing little as well as
big things all over the trail. At first I
wasn’t quite sure what I was looking for but as I opened my eyes and became
less focused on where we were going and more focused on what was directly
around me I noticed quite a lot of interesting things. Primarily these things, as I noted in my
writings that day, were foliage and small animal habitats that had been
recently vacated. In this essay however I
would like to focus on one sighting in particular.
I found what appeared to be a collapsed canopy of brush just
off the trail. I noted on my paper that
the opening into the collapsed area was oval shaped but nearly round standing
five or so feet in height and opening its maw nearly 3 feet across. Upon closer inspection I found that the grass
had been packed down in this place and that the area was inexplicably circular
for something that had naturally occurred.
Before walking on I noticed that aside from the opening that I described
above that the rest of the enclosure was walled in solid for feet in every
direction by thick brush and thorns. It certainly
brought about some interesting questions such as why the brush was mysteriously
missing in the center, and a gaping hole existed in the front. At this point I was forced to walk on to keep
up with the group but I returned a few days later to examine the spot more
carefully and I realized that new growth had begun, ever so small but still
there in the middle are just inside the hole in the brush. Now I was genuinely curious so I came back to
think on it at some length and research perhaps what it could be.
By this
point I obviously had some idea as to what it might be, my initial though was that
it was some type of shelter, something that animals used in order to stay
somewhat dry and insulated from the wind.
But my analysis did not stop there, as I continued I thought about
similar structures I had seen before and the first one that came forward was
one that existed on the outskirts of my property back home. Just as with this shelter, the one on my
property was formed out of a space in the brush and nothing grew in the middle
or in front of hole similarly sized in the front. So now that I have been able to identify what
the thing is my next question is obviously what occupied it and why is it
presently vacated. Well in answer to the
latter, the answer struck me moments later.
I remembered that the ceiling of the enclosure had fallen in, leaving it
roofless so to speak most likely forcing its last tenants onward in search of
new shelter. The former however took a
little more thought. I would after my research
assume that they were most likely deer, given that in a recent study by the VA
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries they found that in Newport News only
16% of the land would function as deer habitat (p.16). Given this I would infer
that Noland trail most likely functions as a bit of the habitat and thus deer
probably exist in the park in certain regions.
Given that they live here it wouldn’t be that farfetched to say that
they could have used this hole in the brush as a habitat during the cold months
by laying together inside the brush to keep warm. This explains the lack of growth
in the middle because they would lie nightly together and their combined weight
was plenty enough to deny growth of any kind.
In conclusion I found this find rather fascinating that I was able to
observe, analyze and infer so much from just a little hole in some brush. I will remember in the future to remain more
open to my environment so that I can have the greatest understandings of my
surroundings at all times.
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