Ranger Is Wild Over Kid Classes

An increasing number of families have moved to South County in recent years to escape the congestion and pressures of city living and to enjoy living near wilderness areas.

But many newcomers are not familiar with the wildlife that thrives just beyond their backyards and wouldn’t know a garter snake from a rattler.

That’s where county Ranger Ginny McVickar’s Junior Ranger nature program comes in. For the next three weeks, she will teach youngsters how to navigate the undeveloped territory around their communities.

“A lot of families who moved here haven’t lived in the country before,” McVickar said. “I open kids’ eyes to things that are around them in a natural state.”

A series of five Sunday workshops for 7- to 12-year-olds, the program is at Gen. Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park. On Sunday, McVickar will demonstrate how to hunt for fossils. The next week’s program will focus on snakes and lizards.

Nathan Pike, an 8-year-old Coto de Caza resident who took the Junior Ranger program last year, said he often spots wildlife from his living room.

‘I see coyotes and rabbits and snakes and deer come into my backyard,” said the youngster, who learned from McVickar how to act around wild animals and what to pack on nature hikes.

“She teaches us what stuff to have in our backpack and what to do when we get lost,” he said.

All learning is outdoors, McVickar said.

When learning about fossils, the children will go to a dig where the ranger will show them how to spot, extricate and preserve the remains of sea life that existed millions of years ago.

“That’s what I’d like the park to be, an outside classroom,” said McVickar, who has run the program for about five years. She started it at O’Neill Regional Park before moving it when she transferred to Riley park last year.

In July, she will start a program on the wilderness at night.

Some of her students return year after year, and a few have become park volunteers, helping to build trails and repair bird houses.

“They get to feeling a little bit of ownership in regard to the park,” McVickar said. “They see the work that [rangers] do around here, and they want to be part of it.”

To enroll, call: (714) 459-1687.