Season 2 (Spring) Episode 15: (Spangler and Wenrick)

On Today’s episode of Adventures with Gary The Wood Sprite: Season 2, (Spring) episode 15 (Spangler Nature Preserve and Estel Wenrick Wetlands). It’s June 2, 2026. We started at the parking lot for the Spangler Nature preserve in Medway, OH. (Some people look to this location with the name Leadingham Prairie Preserve. This is a prominent featured area located within the larger Spangler Nature Preserve. The park was established when the Clark County Park District purchased the former Leadingham farm.) From there we took the prairie grass trail. This was my very first time getting a little lost. Yay!

Our first stop was at the Spangler Road entrance. My furry friends Rainbow, Luna and Sunny joined us this time. They loved getting in all the new sniffs.

The sign at the start of the trail explains that it’s a mesic prairie which means its wet. Sort of.

In ecology and botany, mesic refers to environments or habitats characterized by a moderate, well-balanced supply of moisture. It bridges the gap between aquatic (hydric) and dry (xeric, which is pronounced zerik like Erik) conditions.

For prairies, there are generally three broad moisture classes: Xeric (dry) prairie which has dry soils, often on hilltops or sandy/gravelly ground. Mesic prairie which has moderately moist soils with good drainage. These sites receive enough water for lush plant growth but are not regularly flooded. Hydric (wet) prairie which has very wet soils that are saturated for much of the growing season or experience frequent flooding.

So why do people sometimes think mesic prairies are wet? Compared to xeric prairies, mesic prairies have much taller, denser vegetation because water is less limiting. They can look "wet" simply because they're greener and more productive. In regions where dry prairies are common, a mesic prairie may seem relatively moist, even though it's not a true wetland. Remember when we went to Pearls Fen S2E10 and learned about wetlands? So, it’s all relative.

One of my botanist friends told me that this location is home to the federally threatened Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid. Even though we didn’t find the orchid we did find a plant that would have blown my socks off if I actually wore socks. We did a double take and a double back when we saw it. It looks like a large agave plant. But it wasn’t! It’s called rattlesnake master.

It earned its name from the mistaken belief by early European settlers that Native Americans used the plant as a root remedy and antidote for rattlesnake venom. Historically, indigenous peoples did use the plant's sap as a ceremonial deterrent during snake handling, which fueled the legend among pioneers.

Why does rattlesnake master look like agave? It’s because of convergent evolution. Both plants adapted to dry, sunbaked environments by developing thick, waxy, sword-shaped leaves that store water and minimize moisture loss. However, they are completely unrelated—agave is a succulent, while rattlesnake master belongs to the carrot family.

The picture with me next to a pile of mud is actually a crayfish chimney! A crayfish looks like a lobster but on land. They are related. A crayfish is about ¼ the size of a lobster.

They dig deep enough to ensure the bottom of their burrow is completely flooded with groundwater, allowing them to breathe. They have gills like fish but the gills are attached to their legs! They have leg-powered breathing because every time a crayfish moves its legs, it helps pump water over its gills.

The chimney provides a safe, hidden nursery for females to raise their eggs. They also shield them from predators like birds, raccoons, and fish.

Scientists generally categorize crayfish into three distinct ecological groups based on their species-specific behaviors:

The primary burrowers (like the one here) spend nearly their entire lives underground. They only leave their burrows on warm, humid nights to forage or mate. They are the primary architects of mud chimneys.

The secondary burrowers prefer living in open water like ponds or slow streams when water is plentiful. However, as the seasons shift and water dries up, they will dig burrows to survive the drought.

The tertiary burrowers live strictly in open, flowing water like rivers and large lakes. They hide under rocks, logs, or debris rather than digging deep tunnels. They cannot survive long-term out of open water.

There are over 6,400 species of crayfish identified worldwide. Ohio has 22 native species and 2 non-natives.

Then we got a little lost. We didn’t find the Leadingham prairie preserve because the path was over grown and we didn’t want to trespass on private land. Better safe than sorry.

But we didn't let it stop us—we found another place to enjoy. So, we got back in the car and drove around the corner, less than a mile to Estel Wenrick Wetlands. We took the Wenrick trail, which was in the All Trails app. Both are cared for by the Clark County Park District.

The lesson for today is this: just because you don’t find the place you started out looking for, don’t give up and try another location!

On to the plants!

Some of the plants we saw include: spiderwort, silver maple, dogwood, poison hemlock, spicebush, skunk cabbage, touch-me-not, black locust, hackberry, mulberry, dandelion, border privet (new), clustered black snakeroot, rattlesnake fern, giant ironweed (new), ragweed, foxglove beard tongue, beaked cornsalad (new), Alsike clover – which is the white and pink flower (new), red clover, goldenrod, Virginia wild rye (new) and an orange fungus called Tremellaceae.

See the list of birds from the merlin app? The one bird that was new for me was the willow flycatcher. Fun fact: flycatchers don’t learn their songs from their parents, as many other birds do. Instead, flycatchers hatch knowing their songs. 

The single black bug is a winged carpenter ant which is often mistaken for a termite but can be distinguished by its distinct "waist."

The picture of the group of ants on a stem is a symbiotic relationship where ants are tending a colony of aphids. The ants protect the aphids from predators in exchange for "honeydew," a sugary liquid secreted by the aphids.

There was a sign in the parking lot that read: No mushroom hunting! Why no mushroom hunting? Was there a problem? I bet there is a good story there.

The bug with metallic green body and inky black wings is a male Ebony Jewelwing a species of broad-winged damselfly. Unlike many dragonflies, they often fly similarly to butterflies and perch with their wings folded vertically over their backs.

We also found: a black cat that didn’t cross the path in front of us thank goodness, a possible beaver dam, many baby ducks with no mamma in sight (yikes!), and a dead raccoon.

Why share a picture of a raccoon carcass? Because this one is beautiful. This one has a combination of both bone and skin and fur in the places they should be. So, it’s almost like wearing x-ray goggles to see the layers and that is amazing.

And as per usual of course I found trash.

The sign at the end of the trail said that this location is also known as a heron rookery. This is a large, communal breeding colony where dozens to hundreds of herons gather to build nests, lay eggs, and raise their chicks. These nesting sites are typically located high up in the treetops near lakes, swamps, or wetlands to provide safety from ground predators. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any heron today. Usually, I just see one heron all by itself.

Have you ever gotten lost? How did you get found?

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