What is it?

*Click on the picture for a larger view*

Above is a picture taken yesterday by Mitch in my office. I think this is a bull snake because there isn't a rattle and the snake is already a foot long. I ran into a similar-sized snake in North Dakota and it definitely rattled. The snake's coloring is enough to give you quite a jolt though!

** Update ** I have recently been bragging about my awesome rattlesnake pictures (from summer 2006 in western North Dakota) so I figured I better post them to back up my claims! Enjoy! Or slowly back away from your computer and scream for help...

(Rainy) weekend in Colorado Springs

Yet another weekend adventure took me to the base of Colorado's Rocky Mountains. I was in Colorado Springs to visit my uncle with my parents in tow and we had a great time even though the weather was dreary. Saturday was 40 degrees all day with intermittent sprinkles and rain. Still, we spent nearly an hour that morning wandering (frozen) through the Garden of the Gods. That was awesome with the trees turning fall colors among the rock formations. I did notice that there are a few rotton apples in the Garden of the Gods, in the form of a nasty plant called burdock. I hope somebody in Colorado Springs is herbicide-friendly enough to spray the burdock, otherwise yet another invasive plant will continue to degrade our nation's natural treasures.

** Burdock **




On the way back to Garden City we stopped at Bent's Old Fort aka "Castle on the Plains" (Website: www.nps.gov/beol). This reconstructed fort from the 1840s is really neat and fun to explore. The fort was originally built by fur traders and it played a major role in the history of the west. Did you know that all the land south of the Arkansas River used to be part of Mexico? That's why Bent's Fort was located and then rebuilt on the north side of the river! While my parents and I were exploring the fort I made friends with the local black cat (Halloween!) and it followed me all over and is in most of my pictures of the fort. The fort is located off the beaten path, but is definitely worth visiting, especially if you have kids. I know I made the $ouviner $hop owner a happy person!

Native Plant Society meeting in Hays

KNPS members at a location just north of Hays, KS

This past weekend was one of my most anticipated times of the year. I got together with 50 to 60 fellow plant lovers and we spent the weekend hiking and enjoying the last few plants that haven't given up for the year. I enjoy having the opportunity to travel to areas of Kansas that I haven't seen before and to do so with a group of people who love being outdoors.

The focus of this year's meeting was medicinal and cultural uses of native plants. We heard about the harvesting of wild populations of Echinacea (purple coneflower) for the medical industry. Its good to know that Echinacea is resilient even after people have over-harvested the plant throughout the midwest. Echinacea roots are used as an herbal treatment in Europe and the U.S. for medical maladies such as the common cold.


On Sunday the group met at Wilson Lake, 45 minutes east of Hays. Being from southwestern Kansas, I was amazed at the volume of water in the reservoir because we don't have anything like that in the dry, sandhills area of Garden City. The scenery was beautiful and a lot of native plants were still blooming. We hiked a 3-mile trail and I saw several plants I've never seen before. Several people in the group are plant experts and can identify every plant and we even had an insect expert in the group. I am always awestruck to be around that level of expertise and experience and I can only hope to know a tiny fraction of what they carry around in their heads all the time. Plus, you can tell that everyone is enjoying themselves and doesn't want the weekend to end.

It was a great mini-vacation for me and I look forward to next year when we are supposed to travel to extreme southeastern Kansas. It will be a whole new world to me!

Click on the picture for an up-close look at a scorpion and notice the red/orange parasitic mites on the scorpion. Too cool!