The Wonders of the Pondside Trail

Judi Crimmins with naturalist Paul Layton on the Pondside Trail around Killens Pond in Felton, Delaware. Topics include the age of the forest, loblolly pines, hickory, oak, tulip poplar, sassafras, magnolia and river birch trees that populate the forest canopy, understory growth such as dogwood and devil's walking stick, and plants that cover the forest floor. Other subjects that Paul and Judi discuss are how native americans used the forest, some of their products made from woodland materials, the poisonous plants, poison ivy and poison sumac, edible plants, animal homes in dead trees, the horn beetle, who "speaks" to Judi, the wetland plants sweet pepper, cinnamon fern, greenbriar, jack in the pulpit, duck weed and penny wart. While at the pond's edge Paul and Judi find a king snake in the process of killing and devouring a brown water snake. Returning to the trail for the final leg of their hike Paul describes the characteristics of the two major categories of oak trees, the white and the red and comes across a large tree chewed through by beaver. In the closing scene on the footbridge at the west end of the pond Paul and Judi review what they saw and point out the need to preserve un-fragmented woodlands. The program was produced by Pond Productions and Rob Crimmins in 2003 and it's distributed for large audience viewing by Chip Taylor Productions.

Murderkill River Trip

Don Wujtewicz travels the Murderkill River in Kent County, Delaware from Browns Branch to Bower's Beach on the Delaware Bay.