Thanks to many hours of painstaking work by volunteers, an extensive set of old, hand-written card files documenting fauna and flora "Zapat the Eidolon Nature Preserve has been transcribed into searchable, digital database files.
The card files were maintained for many years by the long-time former owner of the Eidolon property, Mrs. Marguerite Zapoleon, who died in 2003.
Mrs. Zapoleon used them to record the many different plants and animals she and others had observed at Eidolon over many years. Some of the entries date as far back as the 1940s but most are from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
In all, there are seven different sets of files. In addition to providing details about the occurrences of different plant and animal species, the files also contain occasional personal anecdotes that add to our understanding of human comings and goings on the property during Mrs. Zapoleon's time.
Before she died, Mrs. Zapoleon expressed a wish that her card files be preserved and made available to future generations.
The transcription of the files has ensured that this will be the case.
The transcription was done by PVAS volunteer Marcyanna Millet, of Berkeley Springs.
She used an Excel database format recommended by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
Volunteer Elliot Kirschbaum, of Shepherdstown, assisted in refining the formatting of the files.
To access the .xls files, click on the links below:
Ferns, Mosses, Sedges, Grasses Fungi, and Lichens
These are .xls files and if you have Microsoft Office or the free Open Office, you should be able to view them. If you do not have a program which can open .xls files, you can download this free Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Viewer.