In this ETV Classic of NatureScene produced in 1982, our host Jim Welch introduces Rudy Mancke, Curator of Natural History at the State Museum, and they explore the Landsford Canal State Park. Rudy observed that the Land family owned the ford on the Catawba River, hence known as Lands Ford. In later years, the famous architect, Robert Mills, built the Landsford Canal at that site. To learn more about Robert Mills and the canal, see Side Notes.
As they head out on their nature walk, the duo sees a juniper, a conifer with a berry-like fruit, which is a great favorite of cedar waxwings. When the birds eat the berries, they wind up spreading the cedar trees around, making the tree one of the most frequently found in the area. While looking at the cedar tree, Rudy notices a bagworm moth cocoon.
Moving along, they see small white saprophyte mushrooms growing in the shade. Rudy noted that they feed on dead material and that nature is a great recycler. Rudy finds a boletus mushroom, which drops its spores through pores instead of gills, as well as a death angel mushroom. Rudy discourages eating or handling mushrooms found in the wild, as there are many that are toxic to humans. The naturalist locates a crane-fly orchid and then turns his attention to damsel flies, and cicadas, observing that the male has drum-like devices and is the only one able to make noise. They find a moth pinned to a rock, as it is being eaten by a jumping spider, prompting Rudy to issue “moth turns into jumping spider,” demonstrating the predator-prey relationship. We learn about a pearl crescent butterfly, persimmon trees, wheel bugs, and the consequences of the leaf-cutter bee upon some Virginia creeper leaves. When Jim and Rudy meet up with a copperhead, the camera catches a detailed view of the snake, and Rudy tells us about the snake's preferred habitat and how to avoid getting bitten.
Rudy talks more about the canal that Robert Mills designed and built, and how of the four canals built in SC, it is the only one remaining. The canal had locks, which would raise and lower the water levels to accommodate the narrow barges that moved along the waterway. With the arrival of the railway, the canals fell into disuse because trains were cheaper and faster.
Side Notes
- Landsford Canal State Park.
- South Carolina Picture Project: Robert Mills Archives.
- Digital Commons at Winthrop - Landsford Canal Records.
- North American Wheel Bug.
- NatureScene
