NEWS & STORIES
Battle Creek VA Medical Center Project Healing Waters Provides Entomology class
The Battle Creek VA Medical Center Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing program hosted their sponsor, Kalamazoo Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited, Monday, March 7, who presented an abbreviated class on aquatic animals. The class was given by one of the many TU volunteers, Greg Potter.
Greg definitely knows his bugs. Throughout the spring and summer Greg conducts entomology classes on the local waters for TU members. He also has a class for children at their annual kid’s camp. The bugs were taken out of a local creek and brought for the veterans to learn what the bugs looked like, how they moved, and different color variations. Many bugs were identified however; favorites were the cased caddis, damsel fly and fresh water shrimp or “scuds”. Most of the veterans were amazed that of some the bugs were so small and others like the stone fly were bigger.
Dragonfly Nymph
A stone fly (left) and a burrowing Mayfly (right).
Veterans learned that lots of bugs in their nymph and larva state are in undercut banks on the streams and rivers. After the class was given, the veterans were taught to tie on different styles of hooks. The veterans then learned to tie a scud a few different ways as well.
