Once Christmas break began, the Beavers took the opportunity to visit a couple of parks located about an hour away from Columbia. Our first stop was Barnwell State Park.
Barnwell was actually a repeat park for me and Teagan, as we visited here last December so that she could finish out her Junior Ranger program. On that visit, we walked with the ranger around the small lake they have there. It was here that I saw my first anhinga (a type of bird found around water).
This year, it was a cold and overcast day. The four of us walked around the pond, where we saw just a couple of animals braving the weather. The girls had fun hiding from each other behind trees. Near the park office, there is also a playground with a ring toss game, which we all enjoyed playing.
When Teagan and I were here last year, we learned from the ranger about how alligators go into a sort of hibernation (called ‘brumation’) during the winter. No gators were spotted then or now. In fact, we’ve yet to see a single gator in our journeys. Maybe one day…and hopefully when we’re a safe distance away!
When we returned from our walk around the lake, the ranger was there (shoutout to Ranger Benjamin!), who let us see Petey the corn snake, who lives in the office. Teagan took to it immediately, and after mustering some courage, Sage touched it a couple of times.
Below are a few more pictures from our visits. If you’re ever in the Barnwell area, it’s a nice place to get away! After a quick sandwich, we then packed our car and headed out to Aiken State Park. Click here for the second park of our trip!
Beavers in the Park 