Water Snake

Top Photo: Northern water snake. Where there’s water there’s likely to be water snakes. If there are fish, frogs and tadpoles present the likelihood of snakes on the scene goes way up. If you live here on the Carolina Piedmont the snake you see is almost sure to be a northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon). In our little wetland at the Museum of Life and Science, I’ve never seen anything but northern water snakes. There are at least eight otherRead more

Chicken Mushroom, Rare Wren, Odd Sweetgum, Active Tadpoles and Basking Turtles

Top Photo: Chicken of the woods. Chicken of the woods is a shelf mushroom which grows directly from dead wood. It does not have stems or stalks, and it’s a polypore, meaning it has numerous pores on the underside of its caps or shelves rather than gills to spread its spores. This mushroom may be bright yellow or orange when fresh but may fade to white or tan as it ages. It’s edible. However, while doing research, I found it’sRead more

From Muscadines to Silk Moths

Top Photo: Muscadine grapes ripening on the vine. Muscadine grapes are native to the southeast and are a common and welcomed plant here at the museum. Many birds and mammals including cardinals, robins, and turkeys, groundhogs, gray fox, and humans eat the fruit. There are many vines throughout the museum grounds. If you can reach the grapes as they grow on the vine, it’s worth it to grab a few for yourself before they’re all gone. Cardinal flower is bloomingRead more

The End is Near, Summer That is

Top Photo: Ripening persimmon. There are many persimmon trees in and around our wetlands. The fruit is fast ripening. Much of the fruit will drop into the water. Fret not, fruit that plops into the water is not wasted. Our population of sliders in the wetlands will take care of whatever falls from the trees and into the water. An interesting fact about persimmons, they make excellent catfish bait. There are no catfish in our pond but if you liveRead more

Basking Turtles, Mating Anoles, and Pupating Moths

Top Photo: It’s carapace to carapace as sliders enjoy the warm sunshine. After days of either brutally hot temps or pouring rain the wetland’s sliders were out with the sun on a rather cool (relatively speaking) dry day. it was double digit turtles on the floating platforms placed in the pond specifically for that purpose. Both platforms were utilized. Green anoles were taking advantage of the change in the weather to mate. This pair was on a wooden bench inRead more

A Snake, a Catbird, some Flowers, and a few Insects

Top Photo: Rat snake in a tree. The rat snake above and below was in the branches of a dawn redwood tree alongside the boardwalk leading to Explore the Wild. It’s not unusual to see a rat snake in a tree, they dine on bird eggs and nestlings among other creatures like rats, chipmunks, frogs, lizards and similar small wildlife. They are excellent climbers. The catbird in these photos was harassing the snake relentlessly with quick salvos with its billRead more

More Summer Stuff

Top Photo: Painted lady butterfly on purple coneflower. Just a brief look at a few sights out on the Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind loop. Asiatic dayflower grows throughout the Piedmont area. It’s a non-native, but it attracts various creatures to itself for a variety of reasons, shelter and food standing out in the case of the two creatures that were found on a stand of dayflower in Catch the Wind the past week. The six-spotted neolema isRead more