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environment. I love the diversity of my job. Every day is different. Most tasks require creativity. Now that I am an experienced naturalist, I have the freedom to plan my own day and make decisions about the types of programs that we offer at Peninsula. 42. _____________ In my first naturalist job, I spent four out of five days leading school field trips and visiting classrooms. As a state park naturalist I still work with students, but more often lead programs like bird walks, nature crafts, outdoor skills, and trail hikes. I also find myself increasingly involved in management decisions. For example, sometimes the park naturalist is the person who knows where rare orchids grow or where ravens nest. When decisions are made about cutting trees, building trails, or creating more campsites. naturalists are asked to give the ecological perspective. 43. _____________ Perhaps the grossest thing Ive done as a naturalist is to boil animal skulls. Visitors like seeing bones and skinsat least after they have been cleaned up! Once, our nature center needed more skulls. A trapper gave me muskrat, raccoon and fox skulls but I had to clean them. First, I boiled the skin and meat off. Boy, did that stink! Then I used dissecting tools and old toothbrushes to clean out the eyeballs. Finally, I soaked the skulls in a bleach solution. Ive had some embarrassing experiences, too. On my first hike as Peninsulas new naturalist, I was so excited that I identified a white pine tree as a red pine tree! Thats quite a mistake since the trees are so easy to tell apart. White pine needles are in bundles of five and red pine needles are in bundles of two. | 
