Mussels Attack! (A Central Acre Park Adventure)

Trix, the miniature horse, has big dreams. She wants to be the best scientist in the world. She wants to observe everything and know everything. There is just one problem. She has hooves and no hands. How will she record her amazing discoveries?! With the help of all of her animal friends, of course!

Welcome to Central Acre Park! It’s a farm in the middle of a big city surrounded by honking horns, concrete sidewalks, and skyscrapers. It’s full of curious animals who have a lot to learn about the scientific world. Each day is a new adventure. Today, they’re exploring an unwanted visitor on the farm.

***

Trix felt warm sweat dripping down her neck. It was too hot today on the farm. There didn’t seem to be any shade.

Where was that farm assistant with the hose? she wondered.

Pendragon, the lizard, was a cold-blooded reptile. So he enjoyed lying in the sun on a rock with the turtles by the pond.

Cold-blooded animals have bodies that can’t stay warm on their own. They have to take heat in from their surroundings. Trix sure wished she were cold blooded right now.

Her tail swished away an annoying fly. Beyond the fence, the pond’s cool water looked so refreshing. Even Garbanzo, her raccoon friend, sat at the edge cooling his feet and tail.

Trix backed up, took a running start, and jumped over a crooked board in the fence to the other side. When she landed, she kicked up her feet and snorted.

“Woo! Go Trix,” Garbanzo yelled. “Ten points!”

“I’m the champion,” she called, trotting proudly to the pond’s edge.

The fountain’s gentle mist fell on her fur, cooling her instantly.

“Trix!” Garbanzo called. “Watch out for the… ”

But it was too late. She went to stick one foot in the water. Crunch.

“... zebra mussels,” the raccoon finished.

There were hundreds of them. Their shells were covered in black and white stripes. They didn’t move much. Thankfully, the one Trix stepped on was not hurt.

Trix looked closely into the water. “Why are there so many of them? What are they?”

“Zebra mussels,” Garbanzo explained. “They’re a real nuisance! I cut my toe on one just last week. The farm assistants take them out of the drain every few months.”

“That’s no good! We should check the list,” Trix said. “See if they’re supposed to be here or not.”

Garbanzo groaned. He was sure this was going to involve work and note taking, and he didn’t like either.

The two headed toward the educational area of the barn. Usually, they avoided this area because of the miniature humans and the regular-sized humans wandering about.

They approached a big board of species that had always been in the Midwest area. There was another board that showed species that weren’t from here, but also weren’t causing harm. A third board showed invasive species, these were animals that had been accidentally introduced to the area because of humans and caused harm to the natural environment.

“Invasive species are bad,” Trix said. “They crowd out the animals and plants that live here.”

“Yeah, and they eat all the food!” Garbanzo grumbled. “Speaking of, where’s my snack?”

“You always have food on the brain,” Trix laughed. “So let’s see… hmm, zebra mussels, you said?”

Trix searched the board until she found the right species. She flipped up the information card to read:

The zebra mussel is one of the most harmful invasive species in North America. They belong in Eurasia (Ukraine and Russia) freshwater. They arrived in the Great Lakes through visiting ships and spread across the country. They eat up all the food that local mussels eat – algae.

You can spot zebra mussels by their unique zig-zag dark pattern on their white shells. They clog waterways, boat engines, and pipes. Watch out for sharp shells on beaches and in lakes, ponds, and rivers.

Trix nodded. “That makes sense now. How do we get rid of them?”

“I know how! I saw the humans do it,” Garbanzo said. “But you might want to wear boots.”

***

Despite the heat, Trix put on all of her protective gear for good measures. Thick purple rubber boots? Check. Blue snorkel mask? Check. Straw sunhat? Check.

Garbanzo waddled across the lawn wearing huge black galoshes and a bright orange snorkel mask. He dragged several large buckets and a butterfly net behind him.

“You brought the ducky buckets?” Trix asked, giggling at the cute pattern on the buckets. “Must be serious.”

“It was all I could find,” Garbanzo replied.

Together, the two of them waded into the water. They were careful not to step on any sharp mussels as they went back and forth. Trix grabbed at the sharp mussels with her teeth and loosened them by scraping gently with her hooves. Garbanzo scooped them up with his net. The cool water felt good on their skin. It gave them the energy to fill the buckets in no time.

“What do we do with them now?” Trix asked.

Garbanzo and Trix gazed at the long line of buckets. The mussels smelled fishy in the hot summer afternoon.

A gaggle of ducks quacked loudly behind them. The startled miniature horse and raccoon turned around.

Abby, the large white duck, wiggled her tail feathers and quacked again. “Those would make a tasty meal… ”

“Your duck and goose friends would like to make a deal,” added Nancy, a black, white, and brown Canada goose.

“Zebra mussels are a steal,” Quincy, a Mallard duck with bright green head feathers finished.

“Why do all the water fowl around here speak in rhymes?” Garbanzo muttered to Trix. He rolled his eyes. “They’re terrible poets.”

“I don’t know, but I think they just solved our problem,” Trix whispered. She cleared her throat and said: “We’d like to make a trade.”

The ducks and geese chattered amongst themselves in their own language for a few minutes. It sounded like a thousand kazoos going off at once.

“I’ll show you a trick,” said Drake, a handsome wood duck. Drake had black feathers on its head that were slicked back like hair, and it was the most colorful duck of the bunch. “You’ll learn it quick.”

Trix and Garbanzo looked at each other puzzled and shrugged. Drake waddled away toward the garden, so they waddled after it in their rubber boots. They could hear the sound of the ducks and geese slurping behind them.

Drake pulled a knotted rope out of the grass. Thankfully, it didn’t need to explain in a sing-songy rhyme what it was doing as it tugged and tugged until the garden gate opened with a loud click.

“Food,” Garbanzo breathed, sniffing the air.

Trix and Garbanzo didn’t need to be told twice. They scuttled inside and headed straight to the apple orchard. They deserved a little treat after all their hard work, didn’t they?

When Trix looked back with a mouth full of apple, Drake was gone. They had solved a problem, fed some of the park’s animals, and got a tasty reward out of the deal. Not a bad day in the life of a miniature horse that dreams of one day being a scientist!