Kids, adults discover wildlife through Washington County’s annual night hike

AINSWORTH - It was a week before Halloween and all through Marr Park, children and families were out exploring during Washington County Conservations annual night hike.

The annual hike took place on Thursday, Oct. 24, this year with the theme being wildlife discovery. Participants were encouraged to identify animals through a series of games. Paper lanterns lit the way to five different spots around the park where volunteers were set up to help.

Bob Donkersloot, of Washington, was volunteering at the hike on Thursday night. He said it has been going on for at least 10 years and is generally well attended. Depending on weather, the conservation department can have anywhere from 100-120 visitors.

Donkersloot said the event is usually attended by smaller kids with parents and junior high kids. That's the perfect age, he said, because the intention of the hike is to get kids into nature and show them what they might encounter and why the animals establish specific habitats.

Washington County Conservation Executive Director Zach Rozmus said this year was the first year the department decided to do the hike during the week and was happy with the turnout. He said it was a little cold, but joked when it comes to Halloween in the Midwest kids are used to not just being Superman for Halloween but Superman in a jacket.

A mix of volunteers and staff members helped the hikers along the way as they worked to learn more about the animals that live in Marr Park, he said.

'The theme's always different. Last year was nocturnal animals. We always try to keep it educational but also try to have a fun component to it as well,” he said.

Getting kids outside and excited about learning was the whole goal of the night, he said.

'The biggest thing is statistics are showing that if kids don't have that light bulb moment in the outdoors before they are teenagers, they're not likely to have a conservation mind moving forward. I think this is important to have as educational experience in the outdoors and have that moment that gets them to be passionate about it,” he said.