SLMC Biodiversity Project
Silver Lake Mennonite Camp is rich in biodiversity! This summer, one of our volunteers, Norm Kaethler, spent part of his week surveying the biodiversity of this land and recording his observations online for others to access. Norm, a former SLMC camper and staff, shares that his career as a science educator stems directly from camp – its people and its natural beauty.
During just one week of trail walks, he catalogued 700+ photos, sounds, feathers, scat, webs, or tracks of:
- 16 birds, including camp’s iconic loons
- 4 amphibians and reptiles
- 31 fungi
- 5 mammals
- 10 spiders
- 121 insects
- 242 plants, including 15 ferns, 3 orchids
Visit iNaturalist here to view the full list of observed species!
You can search for specific species or groups here.
As Norm wrote, “we can better appreciate and care for a place when we know who else lives here with us”. We look forward to exploring this SLMC Biodiversity Project in more depth, wondering what we can learn and how we can grow as a community connected to a place and all that lives within it. Many thanks to Norm for inspiring these new connections!
