Silver anniversary ‘Ding’ Darling Days features a first in smartphone apps, new activities and wildlife programs
A novel cellphone application with GPS, social media and gaming options, free stuff and tours, shows and animals, dozens of fun activities and scavenger hunts and prizes, the unveiling of wildlife photo contest winners, cartoonist Dave Horton portraits, each and much more are part of the silver anniversary of “Ding” Darling Days at the popular wildlife refuge in Sanibel. The weeklong event this year begins with a parade at 10:45 a.m. Oct. 19.
“We’re one of the most visited (US wildlife refuges),” said Toni Westland, supervisory ranger with the US Fish & Wildlife Service, the agency overseeing the refuge, “so ‘Ding’ Days had to be huge. What used to be a day has evolved into one week.”
For those unfamiliar, the J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge is part of the US National Wildlife Refuge system, a series of some 562 such sanctuaries. The Sanibel refuge dating to the 1970s receives some 800,000 annual visitors. It is named after Jay Norwood Darling, a wildlife advocate and Pulitzer cartoonist at the forefront of the conservation movement in the 1930s. Darling’s black ink goose drawing remains the icon for the refuge system. He also started the Federal Duck Stamp program, designing the first stamp. A lake in Iowa was also named in his honor.
The Sanibel refuge covers some 5,200 acres, including a vast mangrove ecosystem. It is home to hundreds of species of creatures and migratory birds.
To celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week, the Darling refuge during Ding Days will open Wildlife Drive for free to all traffic for two days, and to only biking and hiking traffic on Oct. 24. (The drive usually closes to all traffic on Fridays.)
On Oct. 19, the drive is open for free to all during “Ding” Days’ kick-off Family Fun Day. In addition, Tarpon Bay Explorers, the refuge’s recreation concession, is offering free narrated 60-minute tram tours. Reservations are recommended. Pedestrians and cyclists are admitted free of charge.
Admission to Wildlife Drive is free for vehicular as well as bike and foot traffic Saturday, Oct. 25 Conservation Art Day. Arrive early to sign up for the free two-hour Photography Tram Tour that departs at 3 p.m.
Wildlife Drive is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. during “Ding” Darling Days.
Most fresh for Ding Day is the new app available for smart phones. The Discover Ding version gives users new access to the refuge, with social media sharing for uploading photos and tips, interesting GPS applications, other fun tools with the free download. Users, for instance, have GPS-driven games like scavenger hunts, GPS field tip and photo posting capability, local resource sections, closure/hazard updates, fun facts and information pages. It also allows staff to post tips and updates in real time.
In all, the Discover Ding/Nature app provides some 80 pages of content and information, said Evan Hirsche, a founder of the Maryland firm providing the smart-phone application. Discover Nature Apps created Discover Ding for the refuge, but is extending the same technology to other parks in Oregon and California. Hirsche said phone apps will quickly replace signage and the old map system but, more importantly, provide far more information and interaction with staff and fellow visitors to the nation’s parks and refuges. Visitors here will post photos and tips for visitors over there, moving between sightings to gain better insight and joy in nature touring. Games and point tracking apps in the package are in the new technology. Hirsche expects every state and federal park and refuge to offer smart-phone technology in the next couple of years. The Sanibel refuge will make the app available at a morning ceremony for Ding Days on Oct. 19.
“Nothing compares to what (you) can deliver on a smartphone,” said Hirsche, who co-founded Discover Nature Apps with Sam Serebin, a graphics designer.
The Ding Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge, US Fish & Wildlife and Discover Nature Apps are underwriting the cost of the smartphone app. And because it’s GPS formatted, poor cell connections in Sanibel won’t affect the program. It’s only usable at the Ding refuge.
For a complete list of “Ding” Darling Days activities and schedules, visit dingdarlingdays.com, or phone (239) 472-1100.