Jsmith PArk

The weather is that of a cool, stormy June- Its very warm and humid; a strong, yet gentle breeze sweeps the prairie. There were thick, dark grey clouds above me and the sky elsewhere is marbled in grey and blue

I start my hike in a direction from those that I have started in the past- Down the muddy, eroded path that is the Saeger Woods trail and our fire line. Above the wind I can hear the Chorus Frogs- they get louder when the darkest clouds roll over.

The area surrounding the path has been thinned of trees and the tracks of heavy machines packed the earth. I eased down to my knees to pick up a small chrinoid fossil out of the trail/stream bed and, to my surprise, discovered a small snake at the base of the rock. HE was about 12 inches long and his head was thinner than his body. He was a faded clay-red and a tan strip stretched the length of his spine.

Adult Texas Brown Snake- out and about!

Intrigued by my unusually march discovery, I flipped another rock just to my right. There was nothing, but after I had continued down the trail a bit I flipped two more. One, on the left side of the trail, hosted a large female five-lined skink and an equally impressive ground-beetle that had an iridescent purple glow.

The other rock was home to a handful of Prairie ringneck snakes, another purple ground-beetle, and a couple bombardier beetles. After I was through photographing the critter I was able to catch, I fixed up their homes and set them next to the rocks. I tried to capture the beetles, but the larger purple ones proved to be too quick and the others were too intimidating without a container.
I was first introduced to the Bombardier beetles at Jerry Smith's Bioblitz, where, upon capturing one in my hands, received a nasty pinch and an irritating blast of 'acid' from it's rear. The large beetles, which have a bright orange thorax and legs and a dark, iridescent abdomen and wing-covers (elytra), force the dark fluid (a mix of hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide) into a thick-walled reaction chamber in their abdomen. The two chemicals are stored separately and when they meet with the chemicals in the reaction chamber, they are broken down and an exothermic reaction occurs which releases O2 and enough heat to vaporise a portion of it. A 'POP' is heard when the released O2 is pressurized enough to burst through a small opening on the tip of the abdomen and the vapors and boiling chemicals are squirted. It smells nasty and creates a sensation that is unique and sometimes painful.

I will have to get a photo of one this year to post up on the blog.

Anyways, I continued onto the prairie and the sun peaked through the clouds several times. I grabbed a hunk of OsageOrange wood that I found lying on the ground and iu headed back for the truck. The wood is very heavy compared to the size of the piece that I nabbed, and is a bright yellow colour. I will try to carve it.

My favorite tree on the park bears tiny green leaves and buds- it is the large one in the center of the prairie ( the one I got that cool sunset pic with)

The horizon behind it is as dark as grey can get before it must be considered black and is in awesome contrast to the remainder of the huge, bright sky. No rain yet.