Hiking Nature

Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Lately I have been wanting to do so much more with the Nashville Hiking Meetup Group than I actually have done, so I was really looking forward to this 4.5 mile hike on the Mossy Ridge trail at Nashville’s Percy Warner Park. Unfortunately, I had trouble peeling myself away from my computer — I was six minutes late, and the group had begun the hike very promptly at 5:30 as promised on the Nashville Hiking Meetup group website.

I applaud LaRae, the group leader on this particular hike, for letting us know which direction on the loop we would be going. Had I not known they were going counter-clockwise, I would have gone in my usual clockwise direction and not found them until around the halfway point. Thanks, LaRae!

The parking lot there (near the Deep Wells entrance to Percy Warner Park) was full, but I managed to quickly invent a spot for my aging vehicle and hit the trail running in my effort to catch up. I even took my chances on a shortcut to shave off a little time and distance, and that worked out well. However, after ten minutes had passed, I was sure that I had somehow missed them altogether; on previous hikes, I do not remember them putting so much distance behind them in such short time; there had always been the stragglers, and I should have caught up to them by now, I thought.

I asked a passing hiker if he had seen a large group walk by, and that is when I knew I was about to hit pay dirt. “I passed them only one or two minutes ago,” the hiker told me. Sure enough, I soon caught up with Dan and Doug. I was pretty tired already but still tried to catch the main group, and shortly after the steep hill near the springs I finally succeeded.

LaRae was bringing up the rear – sweeping, they call it – of the main group, which was split into two pods: the fast pod and the leisurely pod. That’s when I met LaRae, who did a great job leading the hike.

The fast pod was waiting for the rest of us at the next road crossing. At that point, I started trying to keep up with the fast pod, but found myself to not be in the same cardiovascular shape as the others in that group! I was keeping up with them pretty well until the next steep hill – a long, steep climb during which we passed two girls with beautiful (and leashed) Dobermans. But the Doberman girls quickly caught up to me and I let them pass, so I was then somewhere between the fast pod and the leisurely pod!

The Doberman girls – sisters, I think – are regular hikers who hit the trails there at Percy Warner quite often. I enjoyed talking with them about hiking; when I told them I usually hike at Radnor Lake, they agreed that it’s a great place to hike but not when you want to bring your dogs. They are sure right about that; when I still had my awesome dog Sky, we rarely went to Radnor Lake for that very reason; dogs are not allowed on the trails at Radnor Lake, only on Otter Creek Road – which does not afford the Doberman girls the steep climbs they crave.

I was pleased to have the opportunity to let the Doberman girls know about the Nashville Hiking Meetup group. They had not been aware of the hiking group, and were full of glee to know it’s free – as opposed to other local hiking and/or adventure groups such as Team Green. Meetup.com is certainly a fantastic social resource.

I felt much more a part of the group by the time the hike ended, for by then I had spent at least some time getting to know three or four of the other hikers – most notably Vernon, LaRae, and Mary. I spoke to some others but I am just awful about remembering names, so I hope to get to know many more of my fellow hikers at future events. It was a great experience for this introvert, both physically and socially, and I know I will be joining the Nashville Hiking Meetup group for many more Nashville hikes in the near future.

In fact, I just signed up for the Friday morning hike at Radnor Lake, which starts at 8am. I shall be on time for that one!

Sunday, August 30, 2009
My friend Steve D. and I had a fantastic hiking experience at Radnor Lake last month – on July 26, to be exact. We had two wonderful sightings in my view, or one great sighting and one scary experience in HIS view. You see, good ol’ Steve is not a snake fan. Not in the least.

If you have read the most popular post on this blog so far – the entry entitled Grey Rat Snake: Prime Specimen at Radnor Lake (posted on June 4, 2008),
then you already know that I am a major snake aficionado. In addition to another gray rat snake encounter, we came upon a Red Tailed Hawk that for some reason was hanging out on or near the ground — even as we got very close to it. At first, we thought the red-tailed hawk might be injured or sick; after all, it is very rare to be able to approach such a hawk in the wild as we were able to that day. (I am going to post the Red Tailed Hawk story and images in a separate post.)

Both of these run-ins occurred on the South Cove Loop trail, up on top of the ridge.

Steve was leading the way when he yelled and ran back behind me. That was enough to let me know that he had seen a snake. I looked ahead, and sure enough, stretched across the trail and slowly making its way across was a very large gray rat snake, about the same size as the one noted in the post entitled Grey Rat Snake: Prime Specimen at Radnor Lake, but not of the same temperament.

While the previous snake had been surprisingly docile – acting more like a King Snake than a Rat Snake – this one acted like the rat snake he was. He hissed and came close to biting me, and he rattled his tail against the dry leaves for long while, trying to make us think it had a rattle.

All of the pictures of this Gray Rat Snake turned out wonderfully – except for those taken by my snake-hating friend. For some reason, those turned out terribly. He must have done this on purpose!

If you find Grey Rat Snakes to be fascinating or interesting at all, then you will like these photos. I hope you enjoy them! Feel free to leave comments!

Monday, July 20, 2009

“I feel as pert as a ruttin’ buck.”

That’s one of the classic lines from Clint Eastwood’s Outlaw Josey Wales, which is playing as I type this…definitely one of my favorite westerns — not that there are many westerns I could even name. I digress.

And just what does a ruttin’ buck sound like? Well, you can probably find out exactly what several of them sound like by visiting the incredible MacaulayLibrary.org — the largest archive of animal sounds and video in the world! What a resource. Even though it’s big, it’s still quite easy to navigate, say, straight to the birds, view them by common name rather than scientific name (not quite there yet), and start listening to the sounds made by specific bird species I see regularly here at Radnor Lake.

According to their website:

The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is the world’s largest natural sound and video archive of animal behavior. Its mission is to collect and preserve recordings of each species behavior and natural history and to make them available for research, education, conservation, zoos and aquaria, wildlife managers, publishers, the arts, and both public and commercial media. Since 1930, recordists of all backgrounds have contributed their recordings, which now number to several hundred thousand in total. A large percentage of the recordings can be searched and played online. The Library also provides services for consultation, custom compilations, and professionally edited versions of its assets.

References, Resources

http://www.macaulaylibrary.org

Thursday, July 09, 2009
At about 6pm I parked at the nearby church and started walking. I’d planned to listen to some Thich Nhat Hanh on my iPod during the hike, but I left it at home, so it was au natural – not a bad choice, generally, unless there are too many unpleasantries on one’s mind and a diversion is needed.

It is really amazing that of all the deer seen regularly by hikers at Radnor Lake, so few of them are males. For whatever reason, bucks are so much more secretive and skittish than the female deer (does) – the bigger the antlers, the more rarely spotted, it seems. (Shouldn’t the males be more “manly” and brave? Who knows — perhaps the bucks have been hunted so much over the centuries, they actually “know” they need to stay hidden if they are to see another day. )

I was really taken aback when I realized this was a buck. He did not seem to be the least bit skittish even as I stopped to photograph him; he just kept munching on greenery. Sweet!

As I type this, I am watching a DVD that is bringing back all sorts of memories; perhaps some of you have been around long enough to remember some tunes from the early 1970s, and you might even remember a killer live music showcase called Bert Sugarman’s Midnight Special.

Legendary Performances – 1973 is playing, and it’s fantastic– among the featured live performances are Listen to the Music (The Doobie Brothers), Bad Bad Leroy Brown (Jim Croce), Bang a Gong (Get It On) (T. Rex), Your Mama Don’t Dance (Loggins & Messina), Hold Your Head Up (Argent), Delta Dawn (Helen Reddy), Reelin’ in the Years (Steely Dan), Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts), Danny’s Song (Anne Murray), and Frankenstein (Edgar Winter Group). My little sister used to drive me batty singing Delta Dawn! Alright, back to the task at hand.

Apart from deer a-plenty, the only other sighting of note was a majestic, statue-still Great Blue Heron in the section of Radnor Lake on the south side of Otter Creek Road, back at the section where the trails come out onto the road. The great blue heron is one of two species of heron commonly seen at Radnor Lake, the other heron being the Green Heron – a much smaller bird. Both species are likely to be seen at anytime, as they stand still and wait for fish to come close enough to be snagged.

The Green Heron has an elongate neck, but not nearly as long as that of the Great Blue Heron. In the standard pose of the Green Heron, the neck is usually not outstretched.

On the far east side of the lake trail, not far from the bridge, is a large tree with a perfectly round hole in it, not more than a couple of feet from the ground. I have often wondered what made this hole and/or what lives inside there now. It seems a little low to the ground for birds…

The area with the most apparent beaver activity – though mostly old activity – is also near the bridge on the far east side of the lake trail, just off Otter Creek Road. Here one can see at least five old beaver dams.

Unfortunately, I have yet to actually observe beaver here in this area, but it seems many other hikers have.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Reader Question

Is there anywhere in particular in Radnor you could suggest that my friend and I look for raccoons? I thought I saw their tracks in the mud under the spillway bridge, but I wasn’t sure.

Answer

Let me tell you, I have gotten lucky on each of my (merely TWO) raccoon sightings at Radnor Lake. The first raccoon sighting, of which I have no photo, the critter was searching for crayfish and other food along the banks of Otter Creek, within sight of where Otter Creek Road goes over Otter Creek — right beside the West parking lot. I still make a habit of looking down the creek whenever I walk over it.

My second raccoon sighting, two nights ago, was also pure luck. I was hiking after the rainstorm and the raccoon happened to be hunting right beside the trail. The raccoon immediately went for the nearest tree and started climbing, though it was not doing so very quickly. They do not seem to be very fast animals, from what I have seen; they have tended to lumber along slowly, even after being seen, rather than run away.

I’d say the best chance of a raccoon sighting is after a rain and as near to dark as possible, since raccoons are mostly nocturnal. They are also rather secretive, so hiking when few others are there would help a lot. This last sighting of mine occurred when no one else was parked at the west lot.

If you do happen upon a raccoon at Nashville’s Radnor Lake, then you have a great chance of getting pictures; it will probably climb the nearest tree.

More About Northern Raccoons

The bandit-masked raccoon is a familiar sight just about everywhere, and they will eat just about anything. These ubiquitous mammals are found in forests, marshes, prairies, and even in cities — often being forcibly removed from fireplaces. Raccoons are highly adaptable, and they use their dexterous front paws and long fingers to find and feast on a wide variety of tasty (well, to them) fare.

In the natural world, raccoons snag many of their meals in the water. These nocturnal foragers use lightning-quick paws to grab crayfish, frogs, snails, minnows, and other aquatic creatures. On land, they pluck mice and insects from their hidey-holes and raid nests to snatch eggs.

Raccoons also eat fruits and plants—including those grown in human gardens and farms. They will even open garbage cans to dine on the contents.

These ring-tailed animals are equally opportunistic when it comes to choosing a nest or den. They may inhabit a tree hole, fallen log, or a house’s attic. Females have one to seven cubs in early summer; the young raccoons often spend the first two months or so of their lives high in a tree hole. When the cubs begin to explore on their own, mother and children move to the ground.

Raccoons in the northern parts of their range gorge themselves in spring and summer to store up body fat. They then spend much of the winter asleep in a den. There are six other species of raccoons, in addition to the familiar northern (North American) raccoon. Most other species live on tropical islands.

The Latin nickname, or scientific name, for the raccoon is Procyon Lotor. Lotor means “washer” and raccoon is Algonquin for arakun, meaning “he scratches with his hands”.

Complete Classification of the Raccoon
Animailia - Animal (I swear, ’tis true!)
Chordata - Central Nervous Spine
Vertbrata - Vertebrae
Mammalia - Mammal
Carinivora - Carnivore (actually, raccoons are omnivores)
Procyonidae - Family
Procyon - Raccoon
Lotor - Northern Raccoon

Too bad there is not a category for scavenger.

Go Deeper, Or Not

Raccoon Photo Gallery

A Blogging, Snarling Raccoon

The Truth About Raccoons

On Your Plate?

Raccoon Rage Raccoons are NOT rodents, BTW…

Upcoming Subjects

If you have any subjects you’d like to read more about, just ask. If it has some potential and is in line with the subject material of this blog, then I’ll probably follow through with your request.

Cairns: what the heck are they, and why do I see them almost everywhere I hike?
Trees: identifying the most common trees at Radnor Lake
Rat snakes: next time I catch one, I’ll go into detail about rat snakes…as of now, I STILL await my first snake capture of the year! How lame…
Bald eagles: why do they come and go at Radnor Lake, and why don’t they stay?

How Long Will It Take?

It’s rather entertaining to mention someone’s name on the web and then see how long it takes for them to find it — perhaps by Googling themselves or through word of mouth. How long will it take Mr. Tracy Smith, from Hilton Head Island, currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee, to learn that he is being mentioned on this web page? Why on earth did I start thinking about the old college (Lipscomb University in Nashville) gang tonight, specifically Tracy Smith?

Oh yeah, I know…I am listening to an absolutely fantastic Jethro Tull DVD called Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull. Tracy and I had a real affinity for acoustic Tull, and I thought of Tracy for the first time in ages as I listened to this ultra groovy DVD. When, if ever, will you read this, Tracy?

This DVD is loaded with all the great acoustic Tull songs, including Wond’ring Aloud which is rarely played live. The song that reminds me most of Tracy Smith is Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day; I picked it up at McKay Used Books and DVDs earlier this evening, by mistake; I intended to examine the DVD more closely, not take it to the counter. Oh, well!

Sunday, July 05, 2009
As every avid naturalist knows, certain times and conditions provide more wildlife observation opportunities than others. For instance, dawn and dusk are definitely notable for increased wildlife activity at a place like Radnor Lake, bursting at the seams with nature’s four-legged bounty.

Another such time is immediately following rain – especially a highly relieving rain after a sustained dry period. During the afternoon I was closely watching weather.com’s radar, planning to hit the trails at Radnor Lake just as the rain left the area, and I did just that. Sunday afternoon’s respectable, heavy, sustained rainstorm certainly seemed to bring out the critters of both the warm- and cold-blooded variety.

I thought I was going to have hiking buddy Steve D. along, but this was not to be on this night.

The first condition of note – it stuck out like the proverbial swollen, purple, bloodied thumb – was that I was the only one parking my car on the west side! That’s right — there were no other cars in the entire parking lot: no Jeeps, no Beamers, not a single double-parked Lotus! I liked that. I had the place to myself, though not for very long. (Later, someone crept up behind me and nearly scared me to death.)

This afternoon’s rain was a relatively prolonged soaker; I live only three or four miles from Radnor Lake, and it absolutely poured rain for over an hour there, so I figured Radnor Lake had received about as much precip. I was looking forward to seeing how much duckweed remained on the surface of the lake after such a downfall, and I also wondered whether it was enough rain to push the water up over the spillway and into Otter Creek. (It was — barely.)

On the trail just off the lot, en route to the spillway and just by the first bench came my first encounter. A turtle was almost finished digging a nesting hole with its hind legs and was probably about to start dropping eggs into the hole. Unfortunately, the turtle had selected a poor spot if she expected to remain undisturbed throughout the process. Turtles, like most other animals, sometimes do not take well to being bothered or surprised while they are trying to deliver their young or lay their eggs. I suspect it must be something like trying to relieve yourself when someone is talking to you, only worse!

The turtle stopped digging and drew her head into her shell as I walked up. Her hind legs were still down in the hole, but she stopped scooping out the dirt. She was perfectly still, perhaps wondering if I saw her – if indeed turtles can wonder that. I took a couple of shots and opted to leave her be, opting to check again on my way back to the car.

I thought about it as I walked: should I move the eggs to a safer location? That would be a flagrant violation of the rules. I decided I would let a local turtle researcher biologist know about the nest; after all, he has the card-carrying clearance necessary to move the eggs, if need be.

The next creature was a deer. Nothing special for Radnor Lake regulars, but this doe was in a fairly interesting spot; she was down in Otter Creek, and I had a good view of her from the spillway bridge. She ran downstream a ways when she saw me approaching the bridge, but then she paused to pose for me.

The water level had risen just enough to flow over the spillway, but only in the small indented section in the middle of the spillway. The water had certainly been flowing more a few minutes earlier, as there was brown water tumbling down the cascades visible from the first (the newest) observation platform.

My next encounter was to be my personal favorite, as well as a personal first for me at Radnor Lake. Walking on the Lake Trail, just after crossing the longer bridge, I saw bushes moving and heard rustling just to my right. I did not see anything at first, for all the bushes and such, but a second later I saw that I had startled a hunting raccoon. I suppose the raccoon simply chose the closest tree to climb, but it was such a small tree it was almost humorous; I could have easily shaken it loose had I been so inclined. (Of course, I was not.)

The raccoon paused several times as it climbed the young tree to look over at me to see what I was doing, perhaps wishing I would shove off. It was almost too dark to get pictures, but as it turned out there was just enough light to make the flash unnecessary – a good thing, given how incredibly reflective the eyes of a raccoon are! (See pics.)

The raccoon climbed just about all the way to the top of the tree. Much further and the limbs would have been bending big-time. The raccoon was just so. . . well, so darn cute in that little tree, just staring at me, probably wondering why I was just staring at him. Or her.

To everyone who has left comments on this hiking blog, thank you very much and please keep it up! This blog is not much more than a year old and I have not done much advertising, so the blog has not generated a whole lot of comments; therefore, I really do appreciate comments when they come — especially those long, thoughtful ones in which other hikers share their experiences at Radnor Lake and other natural hot spots.

Look for this blog to be much more active for the remainder of the summer. Until recently, I had not gotten out too much in 2009, and I am determined to make up for lost time with a lot of hiking and associated blogging about nature, Radnor Lake, hiking experiences, and so on — which will hopefully include some hiking with and blogging about Nashville’s wonderful Hiking Meetup Group.

Now to answer a question or two…

Dusk Hikes at Radnor Lake

The church parking lot (at Granny White and Otter Creek) is a lifesaver for the regular dusk hiker; however, it appears not very many people take advantage of it, though, and I am not sure exactly why this is. Perhaps most others are better at timing their dusk hikes than I am. I would not and cannot officially encourage folks to park at the church lot, for fear of raising the ire of the church folk there; however, there are hardly ever any other cars there, and I cannot see what harm it could possibly cause. So far there have been no problems in doing so.

In saying these things, I am NOT encouraging breaking Radnor Lake’s rules regarding its closing time at dark. I have discussed this with several park rangers over the years, and the general consensus is that “dark” means really dark: complete dark, not dusk. The park and its rangers are great about giving people plenty of time to return to their cars and leave the lot so they can close it around 30 minutes after sunset, which seems to be the best definition of dark that I have run across, and the definition of dark used by most avid hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts in my purview.

Like a cop pulling you over, whether or not you are cited for being at Radnor Lake after dark depends a great deal upon the personality and the mood of the ranger who sees you. Nine out of ten times they are very cool about it as long as you are not flagrantly violating the rules.

I have had only one bad experience with a Radnor Lake park ranger regarding being there too late, and it was certainly my fault. A female park ranger was quite unfriendly to me and said that she almost shot me; she gave me a very firm warning and also mentioned something about jail. But on that occasion, I’d lumbered out of the woods thirty minutes past complete dark, or an hour after sunset. I had completely lost track of time as I was experimenting with nighttime lightning photography at the spillway bridge.

I must say, it is a lot of fun — and sometimes creepy as hell, too — to hike at night when there is no full moon. But as this is NOT allowed at Radnor Lake, perhaps I will take Josh’s recommendation and do some late dusk / early night hiking at Percy Warner Park, where there is an excellent 4.5-mile loop connected to a 2.5-mile loop.

Parking at the church lot across Granny White simply takes a load off my mind during dusk hikes at Radnor Lake because it keeps me from feeling pressured to rush back. I do not like the feeling of being rushed on a hike, even though I am almost always back in plenty of time and rarely see the gates close. It is more of a psychological easement than a way to skirt Radnor Lake policy.

Guest Blogging at HikingNature.com

Most people do not seem to care for writing; however, there may be a few others out there — a few members of the Nashville Hiking Meetup Group or others, perhaps — who love to write about their hiking experiences and/or other naturalist themes. If you are so inclined, feel free to drop me a note. I would like to invite a few others to do some guest blogging here, and we can include your pictures/photos as well. Any guest blogging should match the overall theme of the site, obviously, and its tone and attitude as well. You can drop me a note at hikingnature@gmail.com or simply leave me a message by making a comment.

Happy hiking, everyone!

Sunday, June 14, 2009
Steve Dieringer and I met at around 7pm and parked on the church property, as I always do on dusk hikes as well as anytime I suspect the lot will be full. (It’s very nice to take leisurely hikes as dusk settles on the lake without having to worry about getting back to my car before the gates close.)

As I type, CNN is on, and the big story by far is the highly questionable election results in Iran. Good grief. It will be interesting to see how things progress, although I have a feeling there will be no official recount or anything resembling fairness. It sure would be interesting to see some REAL exit poll numbers.

We started walking just after 7pm (I was late – sorry, Steve!) and immediately I was again overwhelmed with gratitude that Nashville has such a fantastic nature preserve so close to the city and in close proximity from where I now live. Not many cities of Nashville’s size are lucky enough to have a resource like Radnor Lake.

I can see I am not the only one with such gratitude. Last year’s post about capturing a large Gray Rat Snake has seen recent comments by another big snake fan, a fellow who has seen more rat snakes on a single hike than I have seen all year so far! (I hope that changes soon, although my hiking buddy Steve does not want to see any snakes; hell, I can barely talk him into capturing me on video as I capture the snake.)

I forgot my camera so we did not take the usual shots at the bridge. We headed straight for what’s now the main attraction at Radnor Lake – the Bald Eagle which has returned. Last summer, I believe it was three (3) Bald Eagles that took up temporary residence at Radnor Lake for about six (6) weeks. I’m confident the eagle now hanging out at Radnor is one of the same; its home base is in the exact same area as the eagles from last summer. It’s perfect, since last year we decided to designate one of the coves as “Eagle Cove,” which is the cove hikers enjoy seeing from the only platform on the Lake Trail (north) side of Radnor Lake, not too far in from the spillway and bridge. If you’re on the platform, the bald eagle hangs out on the peninsula directly across the cove – Eagle Cove.

Both out of shape, we got our strenuous exercise in by hiking up to Ganier Ridge and pausing for a few moments on the double bench at the top of the steep climb. It felt great to be enjoying the scenery so much as those wonderful endorphins and serotonin gradually kicked in to give me that runner’s high, just about the best natural high one can obtain!

We doubled back from the bench atop Ganier, and once we got close to the lake, we could hear the cries of the eagle. From our vantage point, it seemed the eagle was flying or had flown from the spot on “Eagle Peninsula” where it was on our hike in. I imagined the eagle to be fishing, successfully I might add, though we did not get to see it.

Both of us plan to return to the trails in on Monday morning (tomorrow), to see what the eagle is up to in the morning hours.

If anyone reading this is familiar with Bald Eagle habitry, then I would sure like to gain some of that knowledge. For instance, it is typical eagle behavior to migrate or change locations during the summer months — and if so, for what purpose(s)? What are the chances the Bald Eagle will soon make Radnor Lake its year-round home? If not, why not? I will Google this info soon and post some good eagle facts on here, since it is now very relevant for us nature-loving Radnor Lake hikers.

When we passed by the Eagle Cove platform and looked on Eagle Peninsula, we did not see the eagle there. We paused on the benches for a few minutes and meditated some – at least I assume my hiking buddy was probably engrossed in spiritual reflection as was I. It has been too long since my last deep reflection of note; it served as a great reminder of just how wonderful, even essential, such psychological pursuits really are.

Sunday, April 12, 2009
When one spies an elongate furry rodent at Radnor Lake in Nashville, Tennessee, chances are extremely good – probably on the order of 95% — that the mammal is an otter.

If there are any avid, longtime readers of this blog out there (a fellow can dream, can’t he?), then you will recall the same conversation last year when I photographed an otter running through the woods quite a ways from the lake:

Is This a Mink or a River Otter?
Northern River Otter vs. American Mink
Solved: T’was a Northern River Otter

On Thursday, I was taking a leisurely stroll on the lake trail with my sister’s family. Andrew and I were out front and we’d just resumed walking after a turtle-counting pause. (Sarah ended up counting around 73 turtles that day, most of them sunning themselves on logs poking up from Radnor Lake’s surface.) We were not far from the spillway at this point.

As we walked past a pile of brush alongside the freshly mulched trail, Andrew and I heard some rustling from within the thick tangle of weeds and sticks. I stopped to try to determine exactly what type of critter was making the noise, hoping for a large snake. Most often, rustlings within thick brush near the trail – say, within five (5) feet or so of the trail – are chipmunks or brush-loving birds such as the Carolina Wren. Rustlings farther from the trail are usually squirrels, chipmunks, or doe (a deer — or many). Every now and then, when I get lucky, it’s a fine reptile specimen — such as a gray rat snake.

A dark brown, elongate, furry mammal ran out of the brush towards the water’s edge, then casually (considering I was running along the trail trying to capture it for posterity) traveled along the bank back toward the spillway. I kept it the rodent in sight for at least a minute before it disappeared.

I have heard rumblings of rumblings that I did not see a mink after all, and that it was in fact an otter. Well, I hope those rumblings are wrong, but I realize that I carry the burden of proof. I have seen and photographed my share of otters at Radnor Lake, and I really do not think this was an otter – unless it was a pup. I suppose that is possible. This animal seemed darker and smaller than an otter, and I cannot recall it having the thick tail of an otter. It was ferret-like.

I will carefully examine the photos – assuming I captured it on digital (I was about to say ‘film’), and zoom in as much as I can, and I shall report back with the results. Stay tuned!

(pics coming this afternoon)

The event — a guided wild edible plant hunt — takes place at 2:00pm on Sunday, April 19, 2009.

Unbeknownst to most of us, nature grows a bounty of nutrition we consider to be weeds — in our lawns, gardens, and even in alleys. Join us for a wild edible plant walking tour with Naturalist Mary Dunlap.

Mrs. Dunlap has great enthusiasm for plants and seems to possess an unparalleled ability to spot and identify wild edibles. She has been in love with nature and has studied nature rigorously for over 50 years. Mrs Dunlap led many educational nature walks focusing on a variety of subjects during her tenure as a Naturalist at Radnor Lake, and also taught at TSU. Ever the vigilant nature lover, Mrs. Dunlap even forages for various wild delectables in her own backyard as well as in her South Nashville neighborhood!

The walk will take place at the homestead residence of her daughter, Cindy Moonrose, located at 5155 Drakes Branch Road.

This wild edible guided tour will be an easy walk. Bring a camera and notebook if you wish. A $10 donation is requested for the walk.

There is also an opportunity to purchase vermicompost (worm castings) at $1 per gallon; just bring and fill your own container.

There will be a small selection of plants for sale, including mugwort, comfrey, chervil, and purple shamrocks. Bring your own container for the chervil. A plug of it planted in your garden will go to seed, and you can collect the seeds and/or let chervil naturally reseed itself.

If you have any questions, please contact Cindy Moonrose at 876-2635 or email Cindy at cindymoonrose@nashville.net.

If you have not participated in a group event with us before, please email Cindy for directions. Internet mapping tools will not quite get you to the house; there are several homes off the blacktop which are served by the same gravel road. You can use Google Maps to learn most of the route, but again, you will need to call!

View Larger Map

References, Resources

• The Happy Homesteader
• Being Frugal: Homesteading
• Vermicomposting