That little rock stack in the creek probably felt harmless. I get it. People see flat rocks, build a tiny tower, take a picture, and move on. It feels like nothing.
But in a stream, rocks aren't toys and decorations: they're crucial habitat.
Dragonfly larvae cling to them. Caddisflies build around them. Mayflies, stoneflies, water beetles, snails, crayfish, salamanders, fish eggs - all kinds of tiny stream life use the cracks, shadows, undersides, and flow breaks around those rocks.
Before dragonflies ever become the thing you see flying around your yard, they spend most of their lives underwater as predators. Some species stay there for years. They eat mosquito larvae, midges, and other small aquatic animals long before they ever grow wings.
So when a rock gets pulled out of the creek and stacked on the bank, whatever was living on it or under it may suddenly be exposed to air, sun, heat, and predators.
One person stacking three rocks destroys an entire stream, that's the wrong way to think about it.
But that the habit scales badly. One person does it. Then another. Then twenty people do it. Pretty soon a living creek bed has been rearranged into somebody's little art project.
And for bigger animals, the stakes can be even higher. Hellbenders, North America’s giant aquatic salamanders, live under large flat rocks. Males prepare nest spaces under them and guard the eggs there. Move the wrong rock at the wrong time and you killed a nursery.
This isn't about never having fun outside. It's just one of those small things we can stop doing once we know better.
This is Holly. Every day for the past 5 years, she picks out a stick and brings it to her favorite spot for “zen time.” While her stick may change, her routine never does. 13/10
Our house rule is you don't have to go to sleep if you're reading. So my 8 year old is now reading 6th grade reading level because he likes thinking that he's getting away with staying up after bedtime. Win/win.
when your 18 year old once water loving sprocker who is part blind, has arthritis and doggy dementia wonts to stay out in the pouring rain splashing around 🥹... its like watching him be a puppy again...