Director, Vermont State Parks 

A crow enjoys a walk at Knight Point State Park

I saw a red fox in an unexpected place recently-the parking lot at Sand Bar State Park in the middle of the day! I was enjoying a run along Route 2, looking out at Lake Champlain, admiring the view and noticing the signs of spring, when I turned into the parking lot at Sand Bar. Suddenly, a red fox ran directly in front of me and across the parking lot. What on earth would motivate a fox to be running in a parking lot in the middle of the day? In this case, it was a large murder of crows.

A murder of crows is really a fancy name for a group of crows. People used to be very creative and poetic when creating names for groups of animals. Some other great ones include a scurry of squirrels, a bloat of hippopotamuses, a romp of otters and a skulk of foxes. 

A murder of crows

Why would a group of crows be chasing a fox? Crows are very social birds. During the winter months, they form huge flocks at night. This winter I saw a huge flock of over 1,000 individual birds flying over Interstate 89 in Randolph, Vermont. It was amazing to see that many crows soar across the winter twilight sky, all heading in the same direction. Imagine what that many crows must look like all roosting in trees in a big group!

These huge flocks offer crows protection from predators. It is true that there is safety in numbers, and flocking together protects crows from great-horned owls, raccoons, and you guessed it: red foxes. Crows can chase away predators much larger than themselves by working as a group-this group chase of a predator is called mobbing. If you had a murder of crows dive bombing you, you would agree that mobbing is indeed a perfect name for this behavior.

A crow with something to say

As winter gives way to spring, these large groups break up and crows return to their territories, build nests and begin mating. When this happens, smaller family groups form. Family groups are composed of the parent crows and last year's offspring. Sometimes the group is larger and includes offspring from previous years. Sometimes as many as five years of offspring stay in the family group to help rear the new brood. Researchers figured that these large family groups were formed because of lack of available territory for the young crows to move into.
 
The well known West Nile virus hit crows particularly hard with over 45% mortality in crows in the US since 1999. As you can imagine, these losses impacted the family groups. Crow researchers observed large groups of crows continuing to communally raise young. This was surprising, because they expected that new territory would open up, and the young crows would take advantage of that by raising their own young. So, they tested the crows and discovered that the survivors formed "family" groups when they were not even related to each other. That means that young crows helped other crows raise their young even though there was no genetic link between them. This is unusual in the animal kingdom.
 

A curious crow

Clearly, you can state that crows are social creatures. As we look forward to our favorite songbirds returning to their summer habitat here in Vermont, do not overlook watching one of the largest songbirds in our area, the American Crow. And, keep your eye out for the predators they are mobbing. 

You can watch crows at state parks across Vermont from Fort Dummer to Crystal Lake and everywhere in between.

Meet Park Ranger:
Ashley Brisson

Ashley Brisson

Ashley grew up in Isle LaMotte, Vermont, the smallest island town in northern Lake Champlain about 35 miles north of Burlington. Ashley was fortunate to have parents that encouraged exploration of the outdoors. She spent many long hours scouring for fossils along her grandparents' beach, creating forest villages with her two younger brothers and cousins, and venturing out through the woods via snowshoe past abandoned apple orchards onto the lake.

Ashley has many hobbies and passions including camping, cooking, gardening, kayaking, painting, and photography. Ashley is trying to see all of the Vermont State Parks and she only has eleven left to go out of the 52 parks! Ashley was able to give us some of her time to tell us more about herself and her time with the parks:

Would you change anything about your job or the parks?
There is not much I would change in my job. I only wish there was a way to be a Park Ranger year-round, as I enjoy being a steward for Vermont and the environment all the time! If I could change anything about the parks, I would add more interpretive programming for children and adults. Other than personal memories, programming helps keep people interested in the outdoors.

Rocky Point Hotel at Kill Kare State Park

What is your favorite memory you have had in the parks?
My favorite memory while working in Vermont State Parks has to be seeing the Kill Kare State Park bathhouse (also known as The Rocky Point Hotel) being renovated! Having lived in that building for six summers I know how dear the building is to so many people, including myself. It makes me really proud of Vermont State Parks to see the work get done. Now, the beautifully finished building will continue to inspire and offer shelter to park visitors for generations more!

Another great memory is from the 2011 season at Grand Isle. I was having a campfire night for my birthday in September; all campers were welcome to attend. The evening started out with one gentleman who brought a guitar. We all laughed and giggled trying to come up with songs that everyone knew! The best part was a little girl who was so enamored at being at the Park Ranger's birthday party she talked incessantly all night long (well...until quiet hours), it was fantastic! The staff laughed for days!

Thanks Ashley! We'll see you at Grand Isle this season!

Navigate a trail at night, go for a bird walk at dawn, build a fire without matches. Are you up for challenges like these? If so, the 2012 Venture Vermont Outdoor Challengeis for you! Venture Vermont is fun and easy to do. You'll never run out of ideas for fun activities, while learning, exploring and expanding your horizons.  

To participate, just download a scoresheet. Choose the activities that interest you, and take photos (or have someone else take photos) of you doing each activity. When you reach 250 points, send in your score sheet and photos. In return, you'll receive a VIP Gold Coin that will give  you FREE day entry into any Vermont State Park for the rest of this year, and all of 2013!

Families really love the challenge and you'll have those photos to remember all your accomplishments. If you do the challenge as a family, you can take group photos, but you'll need to fill out a score sheet for each family member.

To see what fun last year's participants had, view this video of some of our favorite photos from 2011.

On the Calendar

 

New Vermont State Parks iPhone App!

Vermont State Park visitors never seem to hesitate to tell us what's on their minds. We usually have a pretty good idea what we do well and where we need improvement...based entirely on comments from our visitors!

One of the things we have heard a lot about recently is tobacco smoke. The fun for non-smokers and their families at busy areas can really be affected by tobacco smokers close by. We have done some research and learned about the harmful effects of second hand smoke even in outdoor settings and decided to propose a rule that allows us to designate smoke free areas in parks.

If the rule gets approved, we will designate playgrounds and the busiest parts of many day use areas as "Smoke Free". Your input on this is welcome as we progress through the process of getting the rule reviewed and approved. You can read more about the public comment and rule change process at this link. You can email feedback to craig.whipple@state.vt.us
 

We welcome your feedback!