Wherein A Swamp Man Heeds the Call of the Limberlost
by Curt Burnette
"Eh labas! Comment ca va?" ("Hey there! How's it going?") This s how I was greeted by my Cajun co-workers years ago when I worked at a swam tour just outside of New Orleans. To which I would reply, "Ca va bien or comme si, comme ca or ca va mal ("It's going well or so-so or it's going badly") - depending on how I felt. 

My Cajun co-workers were the captains of the boats that took tourists down the bayous and into the swaps southwest of New Orleans. My job was to do educational programs under the tent where the tourists waited before they loaded onto those boats. I had interacted with Cajuns any times when I was the curator of the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, but had never worked so closely with them on a daily basis before. I was embraced by them and accepted into their world, so in a way I became an honorary Cajun - Cajun Curt, the Hoosier on the bayou. I even own a Cajun dictionary and a Cajun canoe known as a pirogue. 

I spent many years exploring and learning about the swamps and marshes of southern Louisiana. They are fascinating, legendary, famous places: the Atchafalaya, Honey Island Swamp, Manchac. I missed them when I returned to Indiana after Hurricane Katrina. When I got back to Indianapolis I re-entered the zoo world by working at the Indianapolis Zoo for several years. During that time, the closest I cam to fulfilling my love of swamps and wetlands was using baby alligators while doing education programs. After I quit the zoo, I thought my swamp days were completely over. 

But then, as I searched for new work, I discovered a job possibility that actually involved a swamp - a swamp made famous over 100 years ago by an Indiana writer. The Limberlost State Historic Site was looking for someone to fill their naturalist and program developer position opening. I was intrigued. A fascinating, legendary, and famous swamp seemed to be calling me. I applied for the job, was interviewed, and offered the position. I took it and so I cam to the Land of the Limberlost.

By the time it had become famous, the Limberlost was mostly gone. During the time Gene Stratton-Porter was writing about it, it was disappearing. But the Land of the Limberlost survives and the local citizens of that land still care about it. When I arrived I saw the on-going effort to bring back a version of the legend that fit the current world and I was impressed. After 10 months on the job I am still impressed. Next month I will tell you more about why I like what I see and why I like where it is going. Au mols prochain, mes amis (see you next month, my friends). 

Note: Last month Curt Burnette celebrated nine years at Limberlost as naturalist. This is a look back at his first Limberlost Notebook column for the Berne Tri-Weekly. 

Source: Berne Tri-Weekly, Nov 2012

Curt looking into a giant sycamore tree.

Curt portraying Paxson, Gene's #1 Swamp guide, at the Mural festivities September 2020.

Curt leading a hike in 2020. Young hiker asks a question. 

Early Spring? 

By Adrienne Provenzano

Several years ago, I was hiking in Rainbow Bend Park along the original Wabash River path. Suddenly, a furry brown critter dashed across the trail in front of me and into the brush along the bank. What was it? My best guess: a groundhog, also sometimes called  woodchuck. It's a common rodent in Indiana, the largest of the Indiana squirrel family, and goes by the scientific name of Marmota monax. I've been thinking about that close encounter with wildlife as February 2, commonly called Groundhog Day, approaches. 

In search of more information about these critters, I turned to a publication on mostly small mammals create by Purdue Extension. Written by Robert N. Chapman and Rod N. Williams, the booklet Common Indiana Mammals is part of the education project The Nature of Teaching. This particular resource, FNR-413, and many others, can be found at www.purdue.edu/nature. Colorful images of 34 mammals and plenty of details on habitat, diet, distribution, reproduction, and ecology make this an excellent field guide and education resource. 

In the introduction, the authors state: "Mammals play an integral role in many natural habitats. Knowing more about these intriguing animals can help us enjoy and appreciate the diversity of wildlife around us." 

According to the Wikipedia article, the idea of the groundhog as a predictor of seasonal change comes from Pennsylvania Dutch tradition that this mammal emerging from hibernation and seeing its shadow on February 2 means six more weeks of winter, but no shadow means early spring. Groundhogs hibernate over the winter months, beginning in October and generally reappear in March or April, but sometimes as early as February. In Germany, where the Pennsylvania Dutch were from, a badger was the forecaster, but sometimes a fox or bear was the designated animal. If you've seen the 1993 film Groundhog Day, you're familiar with Punxsutawney Phil and his annual forecast. This year marks the 135th time the event will occur at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania! 

We all may feel stuck in an endless loop these days, but spring is on the way! Whatever the groundhog may predict, if you visit a natural setting over the coming weeks and months you'll start to see buds appearing on trees, sprouts coming up from the ground, and an increase in green and other vibrant colors. Local and migrating birdsong will fill the air, there will be the scents of blossoms, and gradually warming air. By march 20, the official spring equinox this year, there will be no doubt what season it is!


Adrienne Provenzano is a Friend of the Limberlost and Advanced Indiana Master Naturalist

Groundhog. Photo by Curt Burnette.

Groundhog with young. Photo by Curt Burnette.

Some of Limberlost's bottomland where the groundhogs live. Photo by Curt Burnette.

Limberlost where the groundhogs roam. Photo by Curt Burnette.

Limberlost in spring. Photo by Curt Burnette.

Limberlost in spring. Photo by Curt Burnette.

In this blog we take a look what we accomplished this past year with the help of our members and generous volunteers and donors. The Friends of the Limberlost is a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit. We work with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Nature Preserves which owns most of the land in the Limberlost Conservation Area and the Indiana State Museum which owns the Limberlost State Historic Site.

We thank all that helped us this past year and hope you enjoy a look back on some positive things that  happened in 2020 at Limberlost. 

Retired Ecologist Ken Brunswick is currently the chair of the Limberlost Swamp Remembered committee. He had a vision of a snake fence being placed at Music of the Wild Nature Preserve along with native plantings along the fence. In June 2020, Dr. Richard "Doc" Yoder volunteered to build it. He built a 250 foot fence and donated his time and materials. 

In the fall of 2019 and 2020, native plants were planted along the fence. We thank Rebecca Stafford for the donation of the plants and Connie Ronald for organizing the volunteers and transporting the plants. Those that helped were: Willy De Smet, Jack Ronald, Dale Widman, Zach Widman, Melissa Fey, Randy Lehman, and LaDonna Habeggar. Ken Brunswick and his grandchildren prepared the ground for the planting. 

A new kiosk was installed in November at the Bird Sanctuary. This was made possible through a grant by the Goodrich Family Foundation. 

A new kiosk was installed in November at the Limberlost Swamp Nature Preserve Deacon's Trail parking lot. It was made possible with a grant from the Indiana Parks Alliance. The grant committee: Terri Gorney, Willy De Smet, Curt Burnette, Ken Brunswick and Randy Lehman.

A carriage similar to the one that Gene Stratton-Porter drove for her ramblings around Limberlost was purchased by the Friends of the Limberlost in July 2017. It was restored and ready for its debut in the spring of 2020. The Friends have it on loan to the site.

The carriage is in the Visitor Center for the winter. 

In November, repairs to the Rainbow Bend parking lot were completed. 

The culvert at Rainbow Bend/Bottom over the Engle Ditch was in need of repair. This was completed in early November. This is the pre repair photo. Ken Brunswick oversaw this construction and took the following photos. 

The work begins.

The chimney swift tower was the idea of Alexandra Forsythe. The Robert Cooper Audubon Society in Muncie received a grant to build a tower. Curt Burnette put a lot of volunteer hours into thinking about how to best construct it and then making it. It is attached to the Friends of the Limberlost barn along the Hart Trail at the Limberlost Swamp Nature Preserve.  We have a chimney swift interpretive sign ready to be installed this spring. The tower is up and will hopefully be used for a nesting pair of chimney swifts in 2021.  

The grant committee is currently working on three more interpretive signs. The 10.64 acres addition to the Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve the Friends purchased last summer will begin restoration in 2021.
  
For members, we publish a newsletter four times a year and will continue to do so. 

We are looking forward to 2021. January 1 we welcomed three new members to the board: Bill Hubbard, David Rezits and LaDonna Habeggar. 

​Thank you!

Wherein A Limberlost legend writes a book and gives us insight into how both he and the Limberlost were born again

By Curt Burnette

It is easy to forget that one person can make a difference in the world. It needn't be something that affects the entire planet, very few people are able to do that. But many people can make a difference locally, and sometimes the impact of their efforts extends far beyond their area or community.

Local farmer-turned ecologist Ken Brunswick initiated and led the effort to begin the recreation of the Limberlost Swamp and other local wetlands. Geneva author Gene Stratton-Porter wrote about these areas in both her world famous novels and her nature books. It was after Ken witnessed farm fields flooding over and over that he connected their location to the Limberlost Swamp and Loblolly Marsh of the past. Once he understood that connection, he then remembered reading the books of Gene Stratton-Porter in his youth and realized this was the area she had written about. Those connections started a process of self-realization and environmental restoration. 

Ken writes about this process in his recently published book, The Limberlost "Born Again." After his retirement from the Department of Natural Resources Nature Preserves Division, he began organizing his notes and data, researching information he still needed, writing and rewriting, giving draft copies to friends to read for their comments and criticism, and adding and deleting everything from sentences to chapters. In the midst of all of his work, Ken had a stroke which affected him enough to slow him down, but it did not stop him. He continued working on his book while everyone encouraged him and pestered him and anxiously awaited its publication. 

His book was worth the wait. Ken describes in detail how each portion of the Limberlost nature preserves was acquired. He also writes about, in the first few chapters, his boyhood in Ohio, the many jobs that gave him expertise he would use in the future, his military experience, moving to Indiana nd dairy farming and his struggle with alcohol. It was his battle with alcohol that eventually led him to embrace his faith and be personally born again. Once Ken had been born again, he was ready to help the Limberlost be "born again."

The Limberlost "Born Again" is the type of book that an appeal to a wide audience. Those who want to learn about wetland restoration will read a step by step description of the process. Those who like to read about a person's life and what factors helped to determine the person thy become will enjoy the stories and anecdotes Ken relays. Local folks will enjoy reading about the history of the Limberlost area, from the Ice Age to our current time. And everyone should be interested in the true stories of the Limber Jims (yes, there were more than one!) who gave their name to the creek and swamp, a name Gene Stratton-Porter spread around the world. Ken Brunswick's book of a man and Limberlost being born again is a ready that is well worthwhile. 


Note: This blog was originally published in the Limberlost Notebook column in the Berne Witness in August 2017.

Ken Brunswick 

Sunset at the Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve

Prairie Dock in late August at the Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve

Rain clouds over the Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve

Limberlost Swamp Nature Preserve in October

Clouds over Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve 

Veronica's Trail at the Loblolly Marsh

Canada goldenrod

Snake fence at Music of the Wild

Wherein we examine the history of beaver in the Limberlost--
from the Ice Age giants to the disappearance and return of our modern dam-builders

by Curt Burnette

Beaver are the largest rodents in Indiana, the largest rodents in the United States, and the second largest rodent in the world (South American capybara are the largest). But as large as they are now, they were even bigger in the past--or at least their relatives were. Around the end of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, what is now Indiana and Illinois was home to the greatest concentration of giant beaver in North America. These cousins of the modern beaver were as big as black bears, up to 8 feet long and over 200 pounds! Unlike current beaver, their teeth were not chisel-shaped, so they would not have cut down trees and probably didn't make dams or lodges. They would have lived in the water, though, and eaten various types of aquatic vegetation much like muskrats do today.

The two species of modern beaver, our local North American beaver and the Eurasian beaver, are not descended from their giant cousin. Modern beaver were already around when the giants were alive, sometimes living in the same area, according to fossil evidence. But as the glaciers of the Ice Age retreated and the climate warmed up, the giant beaver went extinct and their smaller tree-chewing cousins flourished.

Beaver were common throughout Indiana and much of the United States and Canada when the two countries were being settled. Many historians believe beaver were more responsible for the exploration and development of our country than any other animal, because of the great value of an desire for beaver fur. The first white men to explore many portions of North America were trappers searching for beaver. The demand was so great that the population of beaver in many areas was greatly reduced, or even wiped out. Such was the case in Indiana. Beaver were completely trapped out of our state by the late 1880s or early 1890s. when all of a certain type of animal is gone from a defined area (like a state), it is said to have been extirpated. It is likely Gene Stratton-Porter never saw any beaver in the Limberlost during the time she lived in Geneva, from 1888-1913. 

Beaver were re-introduced into Indiana in 1935 and have been successfully re-established throughout much of the state. They have returned to the Limberlost area. Beaver don't always build dams and lodges. They also commonly dig burrows into the banks or rivers and streams. 

These "bank beavers" are not nearly as noticeable as the dam building ones. Often people don't realize they are around. If you hike along the Wabash River at the Rainbow Bend Park or Limberlost County Park you probably won't see a beaver, but if you look along the river's edge you might find beaver-gnawed branches. Or better yet, you might hear the slap of a beaver's tail as it dives underwater when it realizes you are nearby--a sound Mrs. Porter may never have experienced in her wanderings though the Limberlost. 


Originally published in the Berne Witness November 2013

Beaver dam in the Loblolly Creek. Photo by Curt Burnette.

Beaver stick cache. Photo by Curt Burnette.

Beaver chewed tree. 

October Birds of Limberlost
By Kimberley Roll

Kimberley Roll took this great photo of a Lincoln's Sparrow at the Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve. It is a private bird and hard to photograph. 

One of Limberlost and Loblolly's resident bald eagles. The Limberlost Conservation Area is known for its number of bald eagles. A bird that had been extirpated from Geneva in Gene Stratton-Porter's time.

Striking photo of a male cardinal. The cardinals were not that common in this area in Gene Stratton-Porter's time. Gene's first book was "Song of the Cardinal." It was a bird she loved seeing and was happy to know that they nested in Geneva.

The blue jay has been seen in good numbers this year around Limberlost.

The kingfisher. This is a bird that Gene was excited to photograph and its nest by the old gravel pit on the east side of Geneva. Gene would be pleased that the kingfishers are still seen in that same area.

A swamp sparrow. A bird well named as this is a bird seen around the Limberlost wetlands or "swamp."

We have had flocks of red-winged blackbirds migrating south. The female red-winged blackbird is commonly mistaken for a sparrow. 

White-crowned sparrow is one of our winter residents. One of our native sparrows.

Song sparrow is one of our year round birds at Limberlost. 


Thank you to Kimberley for sharing her birding adventures at Limberlost. 

OSIRIS-REX Update!

By Adrienne Provenzano, Friend of the Limberlost and NASA Solar System Ambassador

The Limberlost is much beloved by birdwatchers for the variety of species that visit this area. Some stay year-round and others migrate. It takes curiosity, time, effort, and patience to engage in this pastime.

Gene Stratton-Porter loved birds and while living in Indiana sometimes traveled to Michigan for fishing trips with her husband Charles and daughter Jeanette. While on one such trip, she found herself with time alone. With a heart for exploration and adventure, she rowed herself along a river to a lake where she was able to observe and photograph a heron. She was quite pleased with the results, especially catching the heron in the act of grabbing and swallowing a frog! She writes in Friends in Feathers: "There stood the Heron, a big fine fellow, the light striking to brilliancy the white of his throat, wet with dew from the rushes, the deep steel-blue of his back, and bringing out sharply the black on the flattened crest and the narrow line down the front of his throat." The story continues, "out darted the Heron's neck, clip went his shear-like beak, then pointed skyward, crest flat, the frog was tossed around and caught head-first-one snap, two, it was half-way down the gullet of the bird, whose beak was dawn in, crest flared and chin raised, before I recovered from my surprise enough to remember that I held the bulb in my hand and must squeeze it to secure the picture."

In September 2016, I wrote a blog for this website about a space mission to capture a sample of an ancient space rock and return that sample to Earth. The mission, called OSIRIS-REX, launched in September 2016 and successfully arrived at that asteroid, named Bennu, in December 2018. This coming Tuesday, October 20, 1t 6:12 p.m. EDT, the OSIRIS-REX spacecraft will stretch out a long robotic arm and, using a special tool at the end of it, collect a sample of up to 4.5 pounds of dust and rock from its surface. The sample will be put in a special container and returned to the desert of Utah in 2023, transported to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and studied to learn more about our solar system!

Bennu is the ancient Egyptian name for a heron-like bird associated with Osiris, believed by ancient Egyptians to bring knowledge of agriculture and rule the underworld. The name was given to the asteroid because the robotic arm, combined with the extended solar panels which give the spacecraft power, make it look like a flying bird!

Keeping with the theme of birds for this mission, the collection site is called Nightingale. There were four sites considered: Nightingale, Osprey, Kingfisher, and Sandpiper. The back-up site is Osprey. All were birds that could be found along the Nile River in ancient Egypt. Gene Stratton-Porter often photographed birds along the Wabash and in the Limberlost marshes, among them Kingfishers and various birds of prey.

Tune in to NASA-TV at www.nasa.gov, beginning at 5 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, and you can follow the capture of the sample! At 200 million miles away, it's much further than Gene's trip to the Michigan wilderness to study heron behavior, but the curiosity, time, effort, and patience involved are similar. Missions like OSIRIS-REX provide opportunities to develop and test technology, challenge scientists and engineers, and  inspire students and educators and space enthusiasts around the world. Often, NASA missions lead to spinoff technologies we use in our everyday lives!  

This is Gene Stratton-Porter's photograph of a great blue heron taken in Michigan. Today the great blue heron is a common sight at Limberlost. 

Music of Autumn

By Adrienne Provenzano
Songstress of the Limberlost and Advanced Indiana Master Naturalist

Have you had a chance to just sit and listen to the leaves recently? The songs of the trees changes a bit each day, each type of tree with its own music. Bird songs mix in as well in this outdoor concert as other singers and instrumentalists blend their voices in and out of a tapestry of sound. It is a time of year for such a variety of sounds and sights, tastes, aromas, and textures. The crunch of dried foliage underfoot. The rosy hue of a sweet autumn apple. The scent of harvest in the air. The softness of cozy sweaters.

In the 1890s, Gene Stratton-Porter started the Wednesday Club, a literary society in Geneva, Indiana. She presented a paper at one meeting about the poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892), focused on his life and his work Leaves of Grass. She appreciated Whitman's independent nature and wrote as follows: "He liked to stretch his body on the greensward in the sun with the winds of heaven to fan him, and to be of the earth, earthy. He simply would not be confined; the world was his stage; he would travel it. His brain should scale mountain and peak; all nature and all nations were his." Stratton-Porter's 1910 publication, Music of the Wild opens with this quote from Whitman: "All music is what awakens from you when you are reminded by the instruments." Music of the Wild is a detailed account of forest, fields, and marsh.

Here's a poem of Whitman's from Leaves of Grass that seems especially suited to this time of year.

"The Music Always Round Me"

The music always round me, unceasing, unbeginning,

Yet long untaught I did not hear,

But now the chorus I hear and am elated,

A tenor, strong, ascending with power and health,

With glad notes of daybreak I hear

A soprano at intervals sailing buoyantly over the tops of immense waves,

A transparent base shuddering lusciously under and through the universe,

The triumphant tutti, the funeral wailing with sweet flutes and violins,

All these I fill myself with,

I hear not the volumes of sound merely, I am moved by exquisite meanings;

I listen to the different voices winding in and out, striving,

Contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion'

I do not think the performers know themselves---

But now I think I begin to know them. 

Sycamore leaf and Sycamore with moss.

Music of the Wild and the "new" snake fence and wildflowers.

Enjoy the Moonlight!
By Adrienne Provenzano
Songstress of the Limberlost and NASA Solar System Ambassador

"Oh, the moonlight's fair tonight along the Wabash.
From the field there comes the breath of new mown hay.
Through the sycamores the candle lights are gleaming.
On the banks of the Wabash, far away."

These lines from the official state song of Indiana, "On the Banks of the Wabash," seem especially fitting for October 2020, a month which has two full moons! The Harvest Moon occurs October 1st and the Hunter Moon on October 31st. When there is a second moon, in a month it is also called a Blue Moon. Some may know the expression of things that are rare occurring "once in a blue moon." Enjoy watching the changing shape of the moon all month long!

Check out http://moon.nasa.gov/observe-the-moon-night/ for lots more informaiton and free educational resources about the Moon!

Gene Stratton-Porter's first poem was about the Moon. Written in"wabbly letters" when she was a child, she recalled these lines from her "Ode to the Moon" in later years:

"Oh, Moon, thou art glorious,
Over the darkness of night
Thy beams shine victorious.
Thou lightest the weary traveller's way,
Guiding his feet till break of day."

So, whether you are near or far the banks of the Wabash this month, stop, look up, and enjoy the Moon!

Moon photo the 1969 by Apollo 11.

Wherein is discussed the many foreign language translations of the works of Gene Stratton-Porter
By Curt Burnette

Not only was Gene Stratton-Porter a popular and widely read author in the United States--she was also popular around the world. The late author David MacLean, in 1976, listed thirteen different languages into which the novels of Gene had been translated. The thirteen languages are: French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Czechoslovakian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Japanese, Korean, Afrikaans (South Africa), and Arabic. 

Of course, all twelve of Gene's novels were published in English, but the Dutch and Swedish languages were not far behind, with eleven of the twelve translated. Interestingly enough, it was her first novel, The Song of the Cardinal, which was not translated into Dutch, and The Magic Garden, her last novel, that was not translated into Swedish. The Danes and Finns had five works each translated into their native tongues. Four each of Gene's novels were translated into Czechoslovakian and Arabic. The Germans and Spaniards had three novels translated into their languages. The Japanese could read A Girl of the Limberlost and Freckles in their language. Those who spoke French, Korean, or Afrikaans could only read Freckles, and the Norwegians could only read A Girl of the Limberlost.

Some of the books in these languages came out in several editions and versions. For instance, even though only two of Gene's novels were translated into Japanese, there were seven different editions/versions of Freckles, and six different editions/versions of A Girl of the Limberlost. And last but not least, four novels have been converted into Braille, so folks with limited or no vision can enjoy Gene.

Gene's daughter Jeannette's book, Freckles Comes Home, was translated into Dutch, Swedish and Braille. The only one of Gene's nature books to be translated into a foreign language, according to Mr. MacLean, was Music of the Wild, which was published in Danish and Swedish.   

And speaking of the Swedes, they win the prize for the highest number of times Gene Stratton-Porter's works were translated into their language. Including all the different editions or versions of eleven novels, the one nature book, and Jeannette's book (published a number of years after her mother's death) --there were 28! Even the Dutch, who seemed to be very fond of Gene and were second in number of translations behind the Swedes, only had 15. 

So no matter what language the title of the book was in --Das Madchen vom Limberlost (German, A Girl of the Limberlost), De oogster (Dutch, The Harvester), Sproetgesig (Afrikaans, Freckles) are just a few examples--Gene was read and enjoyed across the globe,and people of many nationalities have been able to spend a little time, through her words, in the Limberlost. 


Source: This article was published in the Limberlost Notebook column in the Berne Witness in September 2015. 

A Girl of the Limberlost schoolhouse. Photo taken shortly after the school was built. 

Limberlost Cabin in Geneva. Photo by Bill Hubbard.