We participated in the All Species Count BioBlitz 2005 today at South Platte Park as part of a homeschool science program through South Suburban Parks and Recreation.

We all waded in both still water and water with a current, and collected the different animals and insects we found. I was surprised at how many different things were living in the water. In fact, I got a pretty good case of the screaming willies when I saw how many MANY MANY different things were swiming around the water we were standing in. I kept having this obsessive thought that the rock in my shoe wasn't a rock, it was a snail or tiny crawdad or some equally slimy beastie that would either pinch me or get crushed and bleed on me or something. I kept knocking the "rock" out and having new ones pop in, so I just spent the whole time kind of grossed out. The kids loved it, though, and we all got to shower right away afterwards.

Oh, and we learned how to tell the gender of crawdads. So, if society collapses and we must start breeding crawdads to ensure our survival, I'm your gal!