All eight TIC programs are doing well! The egg delivery was on January 3rd and in order to get all the eggs dropped off during the school day, my usual navigator, John Kaplan, and I had to split up. John took the east: Amery, Roberts, and River Falls and I took the west: North Hudson, Hudson, and Prescott. The kids were all very excited and asked excellent questions (before I forget, I’m going to stop now and look up the record brown trout for Wisconsin. . .41 lbs, 8 oz from Lake Michigan. I always get asked that!).
Since that time, the eggs have hatched, the larvae have used up their egg sac, and the fry have left the friendly confines of the rearing basket to enter the big world of the aquarium. Feeding time is always a hit and the kids are doing a great job keeping an eye on the temperature and ammonia levels of the tank. All classrooms are reporting low mortality rates. Attempts to name all the fry are not going so well. . .
Stay tuned for volunteer opportunities for Bugs in the Classroom and the trout releases in May. With eight programs we are going to need all the help we can get!
—Greg Olson
