Sliver

Originally uploaded by Alyoshka

Today we took a hike up our mountain to eat some wild blueberries we found last week and ran into an awesome surprise – a timber rattler! We’ve known about them ever since we moved here but never saw one until now. Trish caught some movement out of the corner of her eye, right along a log. She thought it was a chipmunk and had trouble seeing it until it moved again 5 seconds later.

It was absolutely brilliant and looked exactly like the one in this picture. Mustardy and striped for about 3/4 of its body before becoming dark for the last quarter. Perhaps that’s the adolescent coloring? The one in the Bronx Zoo is darker overall, though the one at the Bear Mountain Zoo is more similarly colored.

The rattle was easily visible too. We stayed about 6 feet away from it and watched its magnificence as it crossed the trail. J was freaked out a bit, probably from Trish’s initial shock (warranted – she was about 3 feet away from it at the time). M was fascinated and had to watch it as it slithered away.

I suppose we should get used to it, considering we’re moving to land of venomous snakes This is #2 for me – about 7-8 years ago I saw a diamondback in Kakiat State Park. I’m prepared to give much respect to the tercipelo and American bushmaster now.

This is what I love about hikers: I’ve never seen one litter, and I find almost no litter on the trails; the knowing smile and friendly greeting you get when you meet one trailside, which seems to say, “Isn’t this place great? We know you are one of us!”

A few weeks ago we hiked a bit on Schunemunk Mountain, the highest mountain in the county I live in. We haven’t made it up to the summit yet, mostly because it’s a bit steep and long for M to hike yet. We rarely get babysitters, so we’ve been wanting to get to the summit ridge for quite a while. My goal is to do it by springtime, though. The hike we did a few weeks ago was on one of the lower trails on the mountain, one that is less steep.

This is a picture of the Moodna Viaduct, right on the trailside. I like the picture because it reminds me of the old train postcards my father used to collect.

And here’s one of M making a funny face. The view is to the east and the Hudson River.

Anyway…back to our walk.  It was great to get out with some other parents who are as nature-oriented as ourselves.  The group is run by two very knowledgeable women who are members of the Audobon Society, so I felt like we were taking some sort of nature class much of the time, which was great.  M and I learned so much from these women.  I absolutely must get my hands on some more field guides and read up on bugs, birds, wildflowers, and other good stuff.

Here is a list of things that we saw on our hike: Monarch Butterflies, Sulphur butterflies, Monarch caterpillars, tadpoles, tiny fish, an eastern watersnake, puff balls , an old turtle nest, a praying mantis, a praying mantis egg case , an egg case for some sort of fly, a turtle, lots of mosquitoes, blue damselflies – mating and laying eggs, a water spider , grasshoppers, crickets, mushrooms, and a bumblebee.

Best of all, M made a friend…