The Call of Spring

Mohican Wildlife Weekend Nature trills a sweet chorus when spring comes to the lakes, rivers and forests. Swollen streams gurgle past limbs bursting with new buds, and birds welcome each day with songs unheard since last fall.

Many Midwesterners yearning for this seasonal harmony head for north-central Ohio's Mohican State Park. Fly fishers stand in the Clear Fork River. Hikers wind among trees to Lyons Falls. Bird-watchers gather on Pleasant Hill Lake.

Mohican State Park (70 miles southwest of Cleveland) is less than two hours from either that city or Columbus, yet urban life feels far removed during the annual Mohican Wildlife Weekend, which kicks off the area's outdoor season.

Activities in the event, occurring within about a 20-mile radius of Mohican, combine the resources of more than a dozen facilities and not-for-profit agencies dedicated to natural preservation.

Merrill Tawse, assistant director of Richland County parks, sets the tone with Friday night's Bats of the Mohican presentation. Rather than lecturing, he sets up a transparent tent in a Mohican Resort & Conference Center room. Families gather to watch bats circle him as he shares tidbits, such as the fact that bats need 20 minutes to awake from their daily torpor.

On the Saturday and Sunday morning Shorebird Boat Tours, members of the Greater Mohican Audubon Society show where to point your binoculars, and explain what you see.

"There's an osprey up in that tree eating a fish!" exclaims one enthusiast.

Combining plenty of fun with education is the key to making conservation relevant, says Louise Fleming, founder of the Greater Mohican Audubon Society, professor of education at Ashland University and a weekend organizer.

"I think the best way to get people excited about nature," she says, "is to get them out here and let them experience it."

By Don McLeese. Photographs: Randall Lee Schieber.

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