Deer and Owls Greet Tree Trunk or Treaters at Cache Creek Nature Preserve
A small herd of deer welcomed children and their parents to a “trunk or treat” at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve.
The three or four deer were scattered across the savannah area of the Nature Preserve, located just west of Woodland, and could be seen by drivers as they made their way to the event.
Some of the deer even bounded into the roadway leading to the Preserve, but quickly leapt aside when a vehicle approached.
Once at the Preserve, children and adults were able to visit a number of stations set up outside and inside the facility’s historic barn, where a pair of nesting barn owls witnessed the fun from their roost high in the rafters.
Nature Preserve biologist and organizer Felicia Wang urged participants to come in costume so they could learn more about the creatures that call the Preserve home, and many adults and children complied.
Children were dressed as ladybugs, bats and other wildlife. One woman came dressed as a cowgirl riding a chicken. Wang herself dressed as a beaver.
In all, there were 211 people registered to attend the Saturday event, that went from 5 to 8 p.m. and was on the last day of Bat Week, which is recognized in both America and Europe as a way of honoring the role bats play in nature and the assistance they provide farmers by eating tons of insects that might otherwise attack food crops.
As part of the trunk or treat at the Preserve, children (and a few adults) had their faces painted, were able to color-in drawings of bats, answer questions about the habitat and feeding habits of owls, or get free books, courtesy of the Woodland Public Library.
A stuffed barn owl was part of a presentation at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve’s Trunk or Treat event.
(Jim Smith/Courtesy)
Children and adults were able to get their faces painted with a variety of animal and flower designs at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve’s Trunk or Treat.
(Jim Smith/Courtesy)
Representatives of the Woodland Public Library participated at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve’s Trunk or Treat, giving away free books in English and Spanish about Halloween and animals.
(Jim Smith/Courtesy)
Article by Jim Smith, Cache Creek Conservancy Board Member
Reprinted with permission from the Daily Democrat