Tales from the shore.

Come with me on a nature walk. Let's see what we can discover along a river in northern Illinois. By looking, listening, and thinking, we can find stories in nature.

A Flood Tale

We climb down the grassy riverbank and jump onto a wide stretch of dried mud. Jumbled piles of sticks, twigs, and dead plants litter the shoreline. This debris (deh-BREE) is a clue that the river recently flooded.

Swiftly flowing water covered the shore, carrying debris downstream. Then the water level went down again. Debris was left on the banks. When we see debris like this along a shoreline, we know the river flooded.

A Goose Tale

Sometimes animals leave footprints in the sand and mud of the shore. If we look closely, we may be able to tell which animal left the tracks and what it was doing by the water.

Wide footprints that zigzag across the mud look like those of a web-footed animal. During the spring when Canada geese fly north, many stop here to feed in nearby fields. Then they rest on the surface of the river. This goose took a waddling walk along the shore. It left tracks in the mud.

A Fish Tale

Some animals make their homes near rivers and streams. Just past the goose tracks, we find more footprints that tell a different tale. These small tracks have a tiny point at the end of each toe. Their trail ends at a fish skeleton near the water.

What is this story? A raccoon came to the river and found a fish to eat.

A Clamshell Tale

The shore tells tales about people, too. We walk along the shore to where the Rock River and the Pecatonica River come together. We see hundreds of sharp, white clamshells poking out of the riverbank and spilling down to the water. What tale is this?

Thousands of years ago, people spent their summers in a village nearby. They ate clams from the river and dumped the empty shells in a trash pile at the river's edge. Today, scientists study the piles of shells, called a midden. The shells give clues about how these ancient people lived.

Middens are fairly common in the southeastern United States. They can also be found along the coastal areas of North America. But in Illinois and Wisconsin, shell middens are rare.

The next time you walk along a river or through a forest or field, look, listen, and think. You will be amazed at the stories you can find in nature.