mountain wildlife

i spent last thursday and friday up at coweeta attempting to do my fieldwork even though i've already quit and am having a difficult time motivating myself. each day the was pretty miserable except for my wildlife encounters.

day one i saw this guy:

hello mr. copperhead. he was very polite and let me come close enough to take his picture. he didn't move a muscle until i rudely poked him with my tripod 3 or 4 times to get him out of the road. then he made his way into the underbrush and i realized that i had directed him into one of my sampling sites. oops. hopefully we won't have any unpleasant confrontations in the future.

on day two i ran into this wild beast:

she was not as well behaved as mr. snake. ms. kitty ran yowling from the woods and scrambled up my jeans and shirt and then perched herself on my shoulder and made it pretty clear that she was not a wild forest kitty and that she would appreciate it if i remedied the situation as soon as possible. so i took her home (my two cats are most displeased), gave her a name (adel- short for adelgis tsugae, the insect species i was/am still somehow suckered into studying for the next month or two), and found her a home (eli will be the best cat owner ever).

so there you have it. i wonder if anyone would have adopted the copperhead if i brought it home? anyone? come on now you guys. he doesn't have enough venom to actually kill you. unless he bites your face or neck or something.