CUB SCOUTS VISIT THE GREAT SWAMP
Submitted by Dan Bernier
Cub Scout Pack 23, sponsored by St. Genevieve’s Church in Elizabeth, visited the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris County on Saturday, April 9. The Cub Scouts started their trip by walking a boardwalk trail to a bird blind at the Wildlife Observation Center. In spite of some rain, the Cubs used binoculars to look for birds at the blind, and learned to identify several trees, bushes and other plants along their walk. They learned how they can make birch beer from black birch trees and how they can eat the leaves of skunk cabbage (if they can get past the smell).
Pack 23’s next stop in the Great Swamp was the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center, where the Cubs saw exhibits about wildlife and habitat and visited the gift shop. The neatest moment of the day came outside of the Visitor Center, where the Cubs saw a fox bring food to its four kits.
A Great Blue Heron flew overhead while the Scouts ate their lunch at a pavilion behind the Visitor Center. Then Pack 23 drove to its final stop of the day – the Raptor Trust. Located on the southern border of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, the Raptor Trust is a private, volunteer-staffed hospital and rehabilitation center for injured and orphaned birds. The Cub Scouts strolled the grounds, where many hawks, owls, and even bald eagles are housed in enclosed pens.
Cub Scout Pack 23 and Boy Scout Troop 23 have served the youth of St. Genevieve’s parish and the surrounding area for almost 60 years. For more details, please contact Dan Bernier, Scoutmaster, at (908) 451-1948 or webfoottroop@gmail.com.
