Serendipity at Baltimore Woods

"This past summer I was fortunate to be at the right place, at the right time, to have a very special experience by the brook on the Griffiths Trail.

I had just sat down when a beaver came swimming down from upstream. I could see something round and brown protruding from its mouth. When it was opposite me, about twenty feet away, I could see a beaver tail protruding from the opposite side - a beaver kit! She, and I assumed that it was its mother, swam over to the bank burrow and dove. A few minutes later she swam by me, minus the kit, and disappeared upstream. Soon she was back with another kit in her mouth, and dove by the bank burrow.

But on her next trip she did a most extraordinary thing, something in all of my hours of watching I had never seen and heard before. When she returned from the burrow, she swam in a circle in front of me, and emitted a groan-like sound. At the risk of sounding anthropomorphic, I felt as if she was sharing her concern with me. Then she continued upstream but in a minute or two was back, with no kit.

While watching beavers from the lower Valley Trail bridge, I'd notice that sometimes a beaver would disappear where a branch overhung the water. I suspected that there was a bank burrow there. We'd been having much rain so I suspected that it had been used as a nursery, and became flooded. She went back, but sadly was too late to save any more kits."

by Audrey Loewer, Baltimore Woods Volunteer


Baltimore Woods has been the setting of many wildlife sighting stories like the one Audrey witnessed. If you have a story you'd like to share, please e-mail blog@baltimorewoods.org.

A Brief Introduction

Welcome to Baltimore Woods Nature Center's Under The Log blog!

Each week this blog will be a resource for what's going on in the woods at The Woods. There's always a lot going on out there and we want to share as much as possible to promote environmental awareness and understanding for Central New York. This blog will serve as an online nature journal that's interactive. We will share fascinating nature news through photos, personal stories, videos, and helpful links and we encourage conversation! Nature can be enjoyed by everyone at any age and we want to hear what stories you might have to share and we want to answer your questions, too. So follow along as we explore these woods and find out what's under the log and more.

Jewelweed Goes Ballistic at The Woods

Walk down the Valley Trail and become surrounded in this moisture-loving plant. Early in the spring you can start to see the youthful sprout pop up out of the ground everywhere. Now that we're into autumn, the fruit of this plant is looking about ready to pop! Some of the plants have even grown so high they could tower over you (depending on your height, of course)! The tantalizingly plump fruits beckon you to give them a gentle squeeze and – POP! – seeds burst in all directions and suddenly that fat little pod has disappeared before your eyes.

How does it do that?!

If you're quick enough (or if the pod is slow enough), you might be able to catch the pod right after it opens. You might notice a bunch of curled up plant parts and maybe a few seeds left behind. You're looking at the aftermath of a ballistic seed dispersal mechanism.

When a jewelweed fruit is ripe, there is so much pressure built up inside that the slightest touch will cause it to burst. Not too many other plant fruits will do this. When a banana is ripe, for example, it does not go ballistic when you grab it for your lunch. Inside the pod is a columella, surrounded by the seeds, and the whole fruit is enclosed by a few pieces called valves. The seeds are not attached in any way so when the pod is squeezed, the valves scrunch up, the columella collapses and the seeds get pushed out.

Deconstructed seed pod. From left: curled valves, columella, seed.

Read more

An article was published in the Journal of Experimental Botany where scientists quantified the ballistic dispersal mechanism of these seed pods. Read this fun and fascinating article here.

See for yourself

We have a lot of spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) all around the woods. You'll find it especially near water like along the Valley Trail and the beaver pond. Stop by while the seeds are still ripe and watch the seeds launch!


Blog post by Anna Leiss