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First Meeting of the GFNC Cadets: It was a hit!

March 19, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Yesterday was Seths first Cadets meeting as part of the Geelong Field Naturalists Club. Normally I wouldn’t write about such meetings but Seth had such a great time. They deserve major praise!

For days, Seth had been asking whether I was excited about going to the cadets. He would have been asking for weeks if the moth night wasn’t coming up! It was an impromptu decision. I was checking out the GFNC website the week before and landed on the cadets blog. There were only 3 posts up there but I knew that Seth would love it. Especially when I saw the skulls on the blog!

He was a bit shy when we got there but Jeff, the leader, was fantastic. We went for a quick walk to the storage pond where, again, we dipped on the crake. Dad now reckons it is a myth. It was fascinating though. A lot of the kids there were just as nerdy as Seth, and just as good at discovering stuff. Mum was fascinated by the leaf curling spiders. The kids there had eyes that were just as good as Seths. I really believe that if you want to find hidden stuff, you should go adventuring with a child. They always find stuff that I miss.

We spoke about shells. I love how they encourage the cadets to present and share their interests. We tried to use sandpaper to see inside the shells without much luck. I may do some googling and forward info on to Georgi. They say they want the kids to be involved in the blog and if I’m going to research stuff anyway… I don’t know.

The last part was show and tell which was AWESOME. Seth was able to present his skull and we learned that it was a rabbit skull, not turtle like I assumed. Mum said that Seths mouth dropped right open. 🙂 The teeth were missing but the sockets looked like a herbivore. Also, the eyes were on the side of the skull. He said we can bring in any partial skeletons we find as he has the right type of bugs to decompose them. I had looked into this process earlier but it just sounded too messy. Plus I need a better way to carry stinky skeletons home on trains!

Someone had brought a shearwater skull which we got to have a close look at. Other kids bought gems, a wild cucumber they had found. It was like being around other kids. Sethy is always finding animals in the garden and telling me stuff he has learned from David Attenborough.

I think we are really going to love the cadets. My knowledge is limited. I do my best with research and adventuring but I’m just one person. Being around a community will be beneficial to him, the same way it has been for me. It also takes the pressure of me having to find the answers.

It was awesome. Sethy is shy, something I can understand as I was similar. By the end of the night, he was talking to Jeff as if he’d known him forever. Jeff bought out his bird book and spoke to Seth about his favourite species. It was amazing. Everyone I’ve met from the field nats so far has been amazing around kids. Even my parents were shocked at how open Seth was.

If you are hesitant about joining, don’t be. Just go. I’m so, so thankful to Grace for encouraging us to check this out.

Filed Under: Geelong And Surrounds

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