Top Photo: Hearts-a-bursting on the Dinosaur Trail. The second week of fall brought even more new sights than the first. Read on to find out what. Euonymus may be known to gardeners by various names, burning bush, golden euonymus, winter creeper, and others, all non-native plants in the genus Euonymus. However, hearts-a-busting, or bursting hearts (Euonymus americanus) is a native understory shrub which can be seen at various places along our outdoor trail loop. It’s also know as strawberry bushRead more
Posts tagged: #venom
Something to Look At
Top Photo: Bumble bee takes nectar and transfers pollen in the process. Here, I have a quick list of photos of what you might see on a walk around the outdoor trails here at the museum. Last year we had at least three bald-faced hornet hives on the campus. One was in a dawn redwood tree over the boardwalk, another in a pine along one of the service roads, and the third was in a small maple hanging over EllerbeRead more
The Cicada and the Spider
Top Photo: Cicada caught in orb weaver’s web. It’s fall, and orb weavers are becoming more and more conspicuous on trails and paths, around gardens, back porches and decks. The other morning while I walked the outdoor loop here at the museum, I noticed a cicada struggling mightily about twenty feet above the path near the entrance to the boardwalk. It had gotten itself caught in the web of an orb weaver. Sticky stuff, those webs. The cicada was flappingRead more
Blind Snake
While walking along the path on the Dino Trail the other day, a small brown snake entered the path in front of me from the banana trees and palms that line the paved walkway. The pattern on the back of the approximately 10″ – 11″ snake immediately identified it as a copperhead. According to the literature, copperheads are born live in late summer or early fall. They’re 8” – 9” at birth. This snake was born last year. There wasRead more