Wildlife

Mountain Laurel

Having Owen around is great for plant identification.  We both have some plant knowledge and have been able to identify over 70 plants.  They include blood root, partridge pea, poison ivy, striped maple (great for toilet paper), and a bunch of oaks.  There are still a ton of plants that we have no idea how to identify. 

We see a lot of mice and chipmunks around the shelters, songbirds, turkey, deer, and a good amount of small snakes.  One day we almost stepped on a three and a half foot, beige snake that we're pretty sure was venomous.  A lot of folks we run into have seen rattlesnakes, especially at some of the lower elevations (3 or 4 thousand feet).  So far we've seen one bear cub.  

My interests are in the smaller organisms.  I love seeing brightly colored fungi pop out of the dirt, or yellow slime molds that cling to rotting logs.  Some of the lichen out here is incredible-- large and leafy, textured and undisturbed.     

Owen's favorite: