Swamp Wolf LbNA #68960
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Aug 7, 2015 |
| Location: | Middletown Nature Gardens |
| City: | Middletown |
| County: | Middlesex |
| State: | Connecticut |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | Spandrel  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | Traveln Turtle |
| Last found: | Feb 2, 2017 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF |
| Last edited: | Dec 2, 2015 |
The tree celebrated by this stamp is an old swamp white oak. Middletown Nature Gardens has at least three of these trees on the east side that seem to date back to when the land was otherwise cleared. Old trees whose trunks begin spreading out not far off the ground -- and who thus tell us that the sky above them was open and inviting when they were young -- are called either pasture trees or "wolf trees." Hence the name, Swamp Wolf. This particular tree was clearly once revered enough to have a boardwalk leading up to it as if to a shrine.
MNG's trails include a wide loop trail and quite a few minor trails. The north end of the loop trail is accessible from the parking lot. At the south end of the loop trail there's a secondary opening to the park where it connects with the back of a local school property.
Find your way to the south end of the loop, just short of the gate out toward the school. (Or, if you're coming from the school direction, pause just past the threshhold of the MNG.) A minor perimeter trail is available here. Take this trail north (so the stone wall is on your right). You're in the vicinity of Loving Hands.
Keep going north along this trail, passing a bench to the left. You'll soon see an old boardwalk roughly straight ahead, while the better connected trail ends up going left. Behold the Swamp White Oak wolf tree. (The boardwalk is collapsing, but unless the ground is very soggy it shouldn't be too hard to reach the tree.) Look around the base (very close to the tree, but be careful of poison ivy which might eventually encroach there) and find this envelope resting under a hollow bark shelter.
This "box" is an home-made experimental enclosure; I'm curious how well it will hold up to the elements, and I plan to check on it regularly. It should only take a step or two to open, no need to undo too much. The log is a water-resistant paper, so it takes a few moments to dry and doesn't like pencil.
When finished, please take care to re-tuck, re-fold, re-roll, and re-clip before replacing.
MNG's trails include a wide loop trail and quite a few minor trails. The north end of the loop trail is accessible from the parking lot. At the south end of the loop trail there's a secondary opening to the park where it connects with the back of a local school property.
Find your way to the south end of the loop, just short of the gate out toward the school. (Or, if you're coming from the school direction, pause just past the threshhold of the MNG.) A minor perimeter trail is available here. Take this trail north (so the stone wall is on your right). You're in the vicinity of Loving Hands.
Keep going north along this trail, passing a bench to the left. You'll soon see an old boardwalk roughly straight ahead, while the better connected trail ends up going left. Behold the Swamp White Oak wolf tree. (The boardwalk is collapsing, but unless the ground is very soggy it shouldn't be too hard to reach the tree.) Look around the base (very close to the tree, but be careful of poison ivy which might eventually encroach there) and find this envelope resting under a hollow bark shelter.
This "box" is an home-made experimental enclosure; I'm curious how well it will hold up to the elements, and I plan to check on it regularly. It should only take a step or two to open, no need to undo too much. The log is a water-resistant paper, so it takes a few moments to dry and doesn't like pencil.
When finished, please take care to re-tuck, re-fold, re-roll, and re-clip before replacing.