The Bunny Trail LbNA #42287 (ARCHIVED)

The Bunny Trail
Kelleher Park - You turn onto Square Barn road from Algonquin/62 and follow it down until you see the park on the right side, it's before you get to the Square Barn Rd Campus and after Whitehall Ln and Bunker Hill Rd.


I have named this “The Bunny Trail” because we saw many bunnies while we walked this trail to place the boxes. Keep your eyes wide open and be vewy, vewy, quiet and you may see some fluffy friends too!

We placed these boxes as an activity for our Earth Scouts (www.earthscouts.org) group. I have left in the "nature clues" that I made up for our younger scouts.

This is a park with little shade and many bugs so come prepared. You can really get a feel for what it is like to be on "the prairie" and what it is like for the little animals to have lost so much of their natural habitat.

Box 1 –
Start at the path between the two baseball fields. Walk towards the wetlands. {What type of plants do you notice growing in the tall grass?
Do you see a tall, grass-like plant with a dense flower mass at the top. This cylindrical clump will be either green or brown, depending on the maturity of the plant.
Look for strap-like leaves. Answer: Cattails! They have long, sturdy leaves that can be used for weaving when dried and they are edible.}
As you approach the first path on your right, you will notice a bunch of new tree seedlings. Start counting them. How many do you count in all? Follow the trail all the way past these baby trees as it curves to your left.

{When you’re past the seedlings, what do you see on your right? What do you see on your left? What do you think this spot looked like 100 years ago?}

Just past the trail to the subdivision, look for the small old tree on your right. It looks like it has some damage from the Japanese Beetle and it is very short. Look in this tree for the box.
Hide the box in the tree when you are done.

Box 2 –

Continue on the path. Follow the trail until you come to a patch of grass shaped like a triangle (this is the second triangle on this path). Stand at the base of the triangle? The path will be pointing like an arrow to where the box is hidden. Hide the box in the grass when you are done.

Box 3 –


Continue on the path. Look to your right for the place where the tall grasses make a sharp angle in relation to the lawn of the house with the porch swing and the horseshoe pits. The box will be hidden in this grass. Maybe you will see a bunny when you look for it! Hide the box in the grass when you are done.

Box 4 –
Go back the way you came. Watch in the trees and tall grasses for butterflies, bunnies, chipmunks. When you reach the triangle patch of grass with three seedlings, look to your left and find the three red trees. Go to the three red trees. Eenie Meenie Miny Moe, which tree will the box be hidden in? {As you walk from the seedlings to the red trees, pretend you are a small animal. Do you feel safe? How fast can you get to the trees for shelter? As you wait for the rest of the group to arrive, try to hide in these trees and see if you can protect yourself from “predators”.}