Back in December I cleaned up around Sand Spring Lake at Hickory Run State Park and when doing so realized there was probably a lot of trash that could only be accessed by the water. When talking to one of the manager's of the park a few weeks ago he gave me permission to paddle the lake, but I had to do so before the park got too busy. Most of the lake is used as a swimming area in the summer and it is very understandable why the park does not want boats on the water then. I set out from the beach for what I knew was going to be a long cold day.
The lake is small, but so were a lot of the items I was picking up today and a lot of the larger items were hidden underwater. The photo on the left is the first plastic army man I found on this trip and it wouldn't be the last. The gatorade bottle on the right had about an inch of sand in it.
Along the dam I spotted this water snake shed. The Northern Water Snake is extremely common throughout Eastern PA. They are non-venomous and are often misidentified as Copperheads or Water Moccasins (We don't even have Water Moccasins in PA). If you see a snake in or around the water, please just leave it alone. Most likely it is a Northern Water Snake and they are something we want in our waters. On multiple occasions I have seen Water Snakes consuming dead fish and I don't know about you, but I think that is something that benefits us. Water Snakes do not like being handled. If you pick one up, most likely you will be bit and they will defecate on you. Appreciate wildlife for the role they play in their ecosystem and observe wildlife from a distance.
This was the most frustrating piece of trash of the day. Who throws batteries in a lake? It was about three feet under and was not easy to move with my paddle. I did manage to remove it, but the whole process wasn't easy.
All along the lakeside were small items. I definitely wasn't able to get every small piece, but I tried getting nearly everything I saw.
On the left is how I found this Red-Eared Slider. Just a small piece of the shell poking out of the water. I lifted the deceased out of the water for the photo and you might ask yourself why you are reading about a dead turtle, well there is a good reason. Red-Eared Sliders are native to the southern US and are not supposed to be found in Pennsylvania. They are an introduced species here. Very common in the pet trade they are often "set free" when individuals no longer want them as pets. Releasing exotic species in Pennsylvania is illegal and for good reason. Not only might a pet turtle that was just released die when it no longer being fed, but it may have diseases that our native turtles have never been exposed to before. That could potentially have devastating effects on the native turtle populations. If you have a turtle you do not want, find a home for it other than our waterways. Our native species have enough problems.
When I was a child I had a boat that looked exactly like this. That was a long time ago and this is an old toy. The cracks in the hull showed its age. It is just astonishing how these plastic items can be in the environment for so long and hardly break down at all. We really need to move away from producing plastic products.
Had to get out of the boat for these items. They were tucked away behind rhododendron.
Maybe I should have left this sign for the geese. It looked to be working. I didn't see one goose the whole time.
Wasn't expecting to find another one of these boats. Got a blue one on my last visit. The army men were on high alert as this shark was circling their boat.
Didn't bring any bags with me, but I did find several and filled one while on the water. All of the larger items went inside my boat.
This is a wild Cranberry. Not something that you would normally see hiking around Hickory Run. These plants only live in very specific places and there are not many of them in the park.
The top of the lake had the most trash.
Who wants to build a sandcastle?
This is a Caddisfly larvae. Caddisfly larvae construct a case (like a shelter) out of different materials they find on a stream, river or lake bottoms. Different species construct their cases out of different materials, the cases can have much different looks to them and are found in different locations in a water body. This particular species looks to prefer twigs and other plant matter, it is constructed in a linear fashion and has mobility while in the case. As the temperatures get warmer I will include other types of Caddisfly larvae so you can see the differences. Caddisflies, like stoneflies and mayflies are water quality indicators.
Back at the beach I packed everything in the boat. I then did a walk around the beach area and retrieved a few more items before dragging the boat back to my car.
Currently, I think the lake is the cleanest it will be all year in regards to litter. It would be nice if more people cared and picked things up before they have time to make it to a far shore where they aren't easy to retrieve.
These items are from before (left) and after (right) the water clean-up. The ones before came from the tree line next to the main gravel parking lot for the lake and picnic areas. The after items were along the road on the way out.
You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash
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Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA
