It’s a practical joke that dates back to the 1800s: A naive camper is handed a lantern, a sack and is sent off into the woods on a futile “snipe hunt.”
Over the decades, the term has become ubiquitous, referring to a “fool’s errand."
But pay no mind to the calendar: this April Fools’ Day Snipe Hunt at Frohring Meadows in Chagrin Falls is not a prank.
“Come on, here, snipe! Get in there!” said naturalist Trevor Wearstler as he pretended to put a sack over a taxidermized snipe, eliciting laughs from the handful of birders gathered in the Katydid Lodge ahead of the hunt. Wearstler gave them a rundown of the history, physical identifiers and bird calls to attract a snipe, a bird known for its fast, erratic flight.
“I think they’re hard to spot, and that’s why it's a little trickier when people say ‘Oh, we’re going to go find them,’” Wearstler said. “Also, they are a legal game bird, so if people have ever heard, ‘Oh, I know someone that went on a snipe hunt before,’ they’re more likely to fall for the practical joke.”
Contrary to popular belief, snipes are, in fact, real, and the birders, led by Wearstler, spent the morning marveling at the small, pudgy birds with long, straight bills darting across the marshland.
The decision to schedule a snipe hunt on April 1 was a cheeky choice, but Wearstler said conditions are ideal this time of year to spot the Wilson snipe in the Geauga Parks District. The birds are migrating north for the beginning of spring, and the Wilson snipe, a shorebird, tends to gravitate toward wet and open fields. It’s ideal terrain for feeding: their long, flexible beaks can probe into the mud to eat invertebrates.
Frohring Meadows is such a place. And despite the near-freezing temperatures on April Fools' Day, Wearstler pointed out several brown and creamed colored snipes weaving in and out of the tall grass.
Birders — both amateurs and long-time enthusiasts — were also treated to a show of other species: bluebirds, red-winged blackbirds, sparrows and even a juvenile eagle so young his head hadn’t yet turned white soaring overhead.
Among them was 79-year-old Dot Bambach, a Chagrin Falls resident who has been birding for more than seven decades. She spoke excitedly about the birds in the field, pointing her gloved hand and identifying each by name with detailed descriptions.
“It’s like collecting. Some people collect stamps. Some collect cars. I collect birds. They're not my pets, but I know everything I've seen,” she said. “I've been all over the world looking for them. So it's, you know, get you out, get your traveling. It's just a lot of fun to meet people. It's a little brotherhood of fellow birders.”
