Revisited

Mid Summer and Morning Glories

I was driving somewhere the other day, and a puff of warm air blew into the car carrying the scent of clover blossoms and other fragrances, and it took me back to the days of my youth in western Buncombe County where my grandmother lived. The sense of smell, they tell me, is one sense most closely tied to memory. I just sat and remembered.

One of the things I remember most about those days, and one of my favorite flowers, is Morning Glory. Though most of our Morning Glories are introduced, and can become rather weedy, I still think they are an icon of summer, and will always be part of the summers of my youth.

Purple form

I remember the corn growing high at this time in my grandmother's garden, the bean vines growing up around the corn, the old time bean called by Mountain people "Cornfield Beans", a bean probably gotten from the Cherokee, and in a riotous confusion of vines and purple and pink blossoms, the Morning Glory vines. We would pick beans, break corn from the stalks, and I would admire the Morning Glory as we got our food for supper. I remember the sights, sounds and smells of the corn fields, and the way the Morning Glory would close up before noon. I remember that my favorite color of Morning Glory was (and still is) the pink.

Pink Form

The cornfield was not the only place for Morning Glory though, and it could be seen in almost any disturbed ground, lawn edges, fallow fields, and flower gardens meant for other flowers. As I said, it can get a bit weedy. At first frost though, it was all gone, to fold up for another year.

Also along the roadsides, in the awfulest clay soil of the road cut was another member of the Morning Glory clan, the Wild Sweet Potato or Man Root. It has a white flower, and is actually native to our area, while the Common Morning Glory is thought to have originated in Mexico.

Wild Sweet Potato or Man Root near my home

The root is said to be medicinal (thought to regulate hormones, having a chemical related to Estrogen and Testosterone), and is huge - I tried to dig one once to move it into my yard at home. It was already partially exposed from the activities of a road gang, but it was as big around as my arm, and easily six feet long, and that was when I gave up digging. I just admire them on the roadside now.

Wild Sweet Potato at Cradle of Forestry

There are others found in other parts of the country, and there are beach Morning Glories, one of them called Railroad Vine because it sprawls out along the beach and makes lines in the sand like railroad lines, very straight. Another I found year before last on a trip to the beach (and brought home seeds) is the Ivy Leafed Morning Glory, with sky blue flowers.

Ivy Leaf Morning Glory

Though native to Puerto Rico, it is introduced to our area, and is generally found in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain. I found the parent to this plant in a rest area in South Carolina and managed to find some seed pods. A couple of the seeds came up, and the plant climbed up a 6 foot bamboo pole and onto the house. The plants this year have done the same. Though not as prolific a bloomer as the Common, nor are the flowers as big, it is still lovely, and worth having.

The old home place is gone now, and most of the area around my grandmother's house has transmogrified into a sort of country suburb with cracker box houses and tract developments. In my mind it will always be country, with fields and pastures. I still yearn to live in a place like that.

Trout, oh yeah

As a Western North Carolina Native, I have always had a weakness for trout fishing in all its forms. I have done fly fishing, but most of my fishing is done on what we call "Hatchery Supported" streams. Let me explain.

Many streams in Western NC cannot support a naturally reproducing population of trout for a variety of reasons. The water might get too warm in summer for most species of trout, there may not be enough prey species in the stream, the bottom might be too silty to allow nesting, or it just might get too much fishing pressure to allow trout to effectively reproduce. However, trout can live in the streams just fine, so the state takes a hand. Our state has three trout hatcheries that produce a half a million fish a year, and I for one think we need more, as the fisherman population has grown, and the hatcheries have not grown to keep up. These hatcheries stock the Hatchery Supported waters of the state with catchable sized trout all summer, giving fishermen (and women) the chance to catch pan sized trout all summer. Unfortunately, there are people I call "game hogs" who follow hatchery trucks and fish every fish out as soon as they are placed. I have heard these people bragging of catching 40, 50, up to 100 fish as soon as the truck has moved. I only wish there were a Game Warden nearby. The limit on Hatchery Supported water is 7 per day.

There are other types of water, particularly the "Wild Trout" water, that has naturally reproducing trout, and generally has a smaller limit. There is also what is called "Catch and Release" water, where no trout can be kept. But enough of regulations. They can be found at the Nc Wildlife Fishing Page, which will tell you all aboout the hatcheries, seasons, regulations and all that. I want to talk about the trout!

We have three species of trout here in Western NC, only one of which is a true Trout, and only one of which is a native of this area. The true trout is the Brown Trout, Salmo trutta, and is from Europe. It is, as are all trout, a member of the Salmon family (Salmonidae), and in the right waters can grow quite large. It breeds quite well here in our waters, and can take over a stream, pushing the native Brook Trout out and up into the headwaters. They are also tolerant to higher water temperatures than are the Brook Trout and Rainbow Trout, and can exist in streams where these others would be stressed.

A small Brown Trout, Swannanoa River, probably "native"

Browns are very wary, even the newly stocked ones, and can be spooked very easily. On a stream containing stream raised (called "native", simply meaning hatched in the stream) Browns, any motion of the fisherman will cause the fish to go into hiding. I worked a whole summer to catch one on a small stream near Boone NC one year. This caused them to be called "more sporting" than the native Brook, thus causing anglers to import them.

Another small Brown from the Swannanoa. Pretty. Also likely a "Native"

Browns eat a variety of food in the streams, insects being one of the most common foods. This allows them to be caught by fly fishermen using a variety of dry and wet flies. They also are known to eat small fish such as dace, sculpins and darters, and crayfish, making them susceptible to streamer flies. Of course they will eat earthworms, making them prey for the "country boy" fisherman using live or natural bait. They are also known to take bits of bread balled up on a hook, small balls of cheese, and even whole kernel yellow corn, a very popular bait on Hatchery Supported streams.

Browns breed in fall and early winter, laying eggs in scooped out areas called "redds" in gravel pools. They, as do all trout, require gravel runs and pools to breed, so in many of our streams they have limited areas for breeding due to farm runoff and construction.

Browns are a close relative of the Atlantic Salmon, sharing many characteristics with them, and Brown Trout in coastal areas can be anadromous, spawning in the fresh water and living in the sea as adults, just like Salmon.


Another famous trout that seems to get a lot of attention in local restaurants is the Rainbow (Onchorynchus mykiss), where you will see advertised on the menus "Mountain Rainbow Trout". Interesting, in that they are not native to this area, being from west of the Rockies, and are not really a trout at all, but a Pacific Salmon. Also a member of the Salmonidae, they are common in our streams, being in the middle of the tolerance range as far as water temperature goes, being less tolerant than the Brown, but more so than the Brook.

A young Rainbow from the Swannanoa. Note the "parr marks"

Rainbows are a colorful introduction from California, and are sought after by many anglers due to their tendency to jump when hooked - Browns head for the bottom and Brooks head downstream - so were also considered more "sporting" than the native Brooks, and were in demand by anglers. Rainbows eat much the same foods as Browns, though may not eat so many fish or crustaceans. They also push out Brook Trout, and can take over streams that historically held native Brook Trout. They can grow rather large, and are generally colorful (see photo), especially when small. Rainbows are also wary, but are not in a league with Browns; moderate skill will get a Rainbow to bite, and a few mistakes can be made without spooking them.


Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) are my favorite. They are considered by many to be the Jewel of the Southern Appalachians. An item of controversy for many, the Southern Appalachian form is called by many Mountaineers "Speckled Trout", and held as a different creature from other trout; many fights have erupted over whether the "Speck" is a separate species. The current wisdom is that it is a separate subspecies of the Brook Trout, though I had a friend growing up that would get angry enough to fight when told this.

Brooks are the only "trout" native to the Southern Appalachians, though they are not a trout at all, but a Char, genus Salvelinus, related to the Arctic Char, the Lake Trout, and the Dolly Varden of the West. They require clear cold streams, and cannot tolerate warm temperatures as well as Browns and rainbows, limiting them to higher elevations and colder water.

A Brook Trout, hatchery origin, probably Miane variety. Swannanoa River

The Southern Appalachian Brook Trout, or "Speck" is designated as the State Freshwater Fish of North Carolina. They are more colorful than their stocked brethren, and are called the "Jewel of the Southern Appalachians" as shown here in the Land o' Sky Trout Unlimited page.

Brooks here in Western NC are of two different origins. The hatchery strains were taken from Maine in the 1800's and transported here, as the Maine strains seemed to do well in hatcheries. The Appalachian strains did not do well at all. Maine Brooks were transplanted into almost all the streams here, and soon became the prevalent type in almost all the local streams. The Appalachian types, the only native trout to this area, were pushed by all these introductions into the tiny headwaters of streams, and almost all of them have some growth stunting because of this. They hang on except where the local authorities take out all the introductions and provide some way to protect the natives from them.

Brooks in general are not as wary as Rainbows or Browns, allowing the fisherman to make some mistakes and still catch them, and do not feed quite so discriminately (eating just one kind of fly at a time) as do Browns and Rainbows, allowing the fisherman to throw in most any kind of fly and catch Brooks. This led the "purists" of the last century and the one before to look down on brooks and want something more "challenging", thus the call for Brown Trout and Rainbows.


Catching trout can be easy as baiting a hook and tossing it in a Hatchery Supported stream the day after the hatching truck has passed, or as difficult as a multi mile hike into a high mountain "Catch and Release" stream and "matching the hatch" in order to catch the wary fish of these remote waters. Of course there are places in between, where you can drive up Davidson River, park, and be on a famous NC catch and Release stream with very wary fish (due to fishing pressure, these guys are smart), or go up a nice small stream and fish in Wild Trout waters with natural bait. Fly fishing is a subject in itself, one which I am not terribly familiar with, but I have done the "country boy" fishing for years. I usually use red worms or night crawlers from the bait store or that I have dug myself, and fished without sinkers, just drifted. I have discovered that hook size can make a difference in whether a fish can swallow the hook or not; smaller hooks lead to gut or gill hooking, and I do not like that, as I like to be able to release the fish if I am not wanting a fish fry. Many trout fishermen recommend a size 8 or 10 hook, but a trout's mouth is bigger than that; I use a 6 or even a 4.

Bait that is often used for trout include:

• Corn, particularly Green Giant "niblets". This is the most popular bait on the Cherokee Indian Reservation.
  
• Bread, moistened slightly and rolled up into balls and placed on the hook.
• Cheese. Go figure.
• Berkeley's Powerbait. I do not endorse it, but a lot is sold. Some swear by it, some at it.
• Worms, both "Red Worms" and "Night Crawlers", which are simply types of Earthworm.
• "Stick Bait", the larvae of the Caddis Fly taken out of their shell and placed on the hook. Just remember when collecting them that it is illegal to collect fish bait or bait fish from a designated trout stream.
• Minnows can work, especially on Brown Trout, as can crayfish.
• Though not a bait, many brands and variety of spinner and other artificial lures are used.

So go trout fishing. You are sure to enjoy it!

Mid Summer, Garter Snake, Flowers and stuff.

I went shooting yesterday. Right. I am a Liberal, a Conservationist, and Environmentalist, and I love to shoot. I am not averse to hunting either, legal hunting of a plentiful animal. I am not against gun ownership by honest people who have no trouble with the law. Oh, and are not crazy or have a history of domestic violence. You have a problem with gun ownership? Then don't own one. Simple. Don't believe in gay marriage? Don't marry one. Don't believe in abortion? Don't get one. Just don't try to take my rights away because you believe another way.

Okay. Soapbox out of the way. While digging for brass that other shooters had kindly left in some trash bins, and brass others had left where it fell, I espied a Garter Snake, whom I proceeded to grab. I had steeled myself for a bite, as many Garters will certainly nip when handled, but she didn't, and did what I did not expect (though I should have, really), which is a Garter's main line of defense anyway, and musked me.
Now, think of your garbage can on a hot July day. It hasn't been cleaned in weeks, not since winter, and the smell coming off is almost visible. That is what Garter Snake musk smells like. They will start their tail to whirling like a helicopter, and spray it all over you, then try to rub it in by wiping their tail all over your hand. Then, as she did, they will also poop on you. Smells wonderful... Of course, think of yourself being picked up by a much larger animal like an Elephant - you might poop too. Anyway, I grabbed out my camera and started taking photos. I did not realize until looking at the photos that she had only one eye, but otherwise she looked healthy. I suspect a crow or jay of trying to kill her for this disability. Here are some pictures.
This is after she calmed down, though she still was sort of tied in knots (I couldn't resist). I also got a couple of nice ones of her on a rock, where I managed to get her to calm down enough to be still a few seconds.
When I started home, I felt the need to stop somewhere to wash my hands, as the smell was driving me crazy. The shooting range is near a place called Sunburst, a former sawmill town that once cut spruce for US warplanes in WW I. There is now a cozy little campground and a small picnic area there, and it fortunately has a bathroom. After getting the smell off my hands, I noticed that the Rhodendron, called Mountain Laurel by the locals, was blooming, and I got a couple of shots. They are just about gone at this elevation (around 2700 feet), though may be in full bloom at higher elevations.

The photo is a bit blurry, as I could not get the camera to focus on the flowers. Oh to have an SLR!

While going to a drug store to get some alcohol to make a tincture (external, so it can be Isopropyl) of Yarrow for a friend's Poison Oak, I saw a Sourwood blooming where I could get to it, and got a couple of shots of it too.



Thankfully, these are not too blurry, and you can see the tiny flowers that make some nurseries try to sell this as "Lily of the Valley Tree", though it is not related to any Lilies at all, but to Blueberries, Rhododendrons and others (Heath Family). More on Sourwood in a later blog.

Next I saw a Sumac, probably a Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra L.) growing nearby, a pretty plant that also has an edible component, the "berries", which can be steeped in water to make a "pink lemonade". My aunt, my mom's sister, was told by a doctor back in the 1930's to eat these for a kidney infection; antibiotics were unheard of in that day. She lived well into her 80's.

Well, enough for that. Just wanted to share some photos. I will probably do a blog on each of the pictures, but enough for now.

Trout fishing in North Carolina

Trout fishing is one of my favorite activities in this world. My dad and I started trout fishing together almost a half century ago. Though I know how to fly fish, I generally don't; most of the fly fishing water is too far away, and I can (most of the time) keep from injuring the fish too much when I catch them, so I can release them back where I caught them. If I in fact do injure them, I can just take them home and eat them!

Orange Flowered Beauties

One of my passions in this world are the orange flowers of some plants, flowers that vary in color from one individual to the next. These are the beauties of the flower world, at least to me, and are a sort of a triplet, three totally unrelated species that have a sort of similarity, orange flowers that range from yellow with a hint of orange, to red, also with a hint of orange. I wish I had some of the photos I took in the past, but many of them I forgot to back up when I did a destructive reinstall of Windows.

One of these that grows profusely in my postage stamp front yard is the Trumpet Creeper, or Cow Itch Vine, Campsis radicans L. Seem. ex Bureau. (That L. and Seem. ex. Bureau is just the name of the author(s) of the scientific name. No need to worry about unless you are a Botanist.) We have all three colors here, buttery yellow
true Orange

and almost red.

We are truly fortunate to have these in our front yard, and they are here due to the love Suzanne, my wife, has for these vines.

Another one that does this is the Flame Azalea, a sort of icon of the Southern Appalachians, and a gorgeous sight on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Spring. I have only an orange one in this photo, but they range the same as the Cow Itch, from nearly yellow to nearly red.

This one shows the contrast to the brown of the forest floor.

Another of my three favorites is the Butterfly Weed. Lori at Reflections on the Catawba has some nice photos of Butterfly weed. The one in our yard is pretty much middle of the scale orange,

but they also range from butter yellow to almost red. You can see a small bee in the Butterfly weed, maybe the same kind Lori talks about. It has come to the attention of many in agriculture that wild bees are a significant pollinator of many types of crops, and are often more effective than Honeybees.

In your travels through the Mountains and Piedmont, look for the variable orange flowers of the Trumpet Vine (also found in the Coastal Plain), and the Butterfly Weed; the Flame Azalea has pretty much finished blooming. You will be amazed at the range of colors, and if you have the color sense to see it, you can see the many hues from near yellow to near red, always with a hint of orange.

A day out in the Mountains

I had a day out today, something I haven't done in a while. I decided to combine Geocaching with Trout fishing and general sightseeing. I loaded a bunch of waypoints on my GPS receiver, bought some nightcrawlers, and headed out. I don't have a fly rod, so I do "country boy" fishing, though I do my best to not injure them, and toss them back, keeping them only if I hook them too deep for survival.

I brought my cache stats to 101 found - that makes it just over 100 for the year I have been in Geocaching.Geocaching Web Site And, I caught 3 trout, a Rainbow first, a little "native" (one hatched in the stream - Rainbows aren't native here), a Brook Trout of fair size, and a Brown Trout. The Brown might have been native, but I doubt the Brookie was; they don't do well when the water heats up in the summer.

Here's a photo of the Brown Trout I got. By color and size, I would say he was hatched in the stream. He was the third one I caught; I went back to the van and got a camera.

The Brook Trout is not a Trout at all, but a Char, a genus that circles the arctic (Salvelinus if you're interested). The Brook is a fish of the Eastern America from Canada to the higher mountains of the Southern Appalachians. It requires clear cold streams to thrive, but is in danger from its relative the Rainbow Trout, which is also not really a Trout, but a Pacific Salmon (genus Onchorynchus), and is from the Pacific drainages, probably from Alaska to southern California. Brookies are also in danger from Brown Trout, which are in fact the only true Trout in these waters. Browns are from Europe, where they are widespread.

Rainbows and browns were brought into this area over 100 years ago to provide sport; the Brooks were not considered "sporting" enough. They are not terribly wary, like the Brown, and are not given to aerial displays like the Rainbow. They are, however, a jewel of the Southern Appalachians, and are by far, when breeding, the most beautiful of the three species found here.

If you are interested, more information can be found by going to NC Wildlife, and go to the fishing section. Another fun thing is to Google "Southern Appalachian Brook Trout", and see what you come up with.
See you later!

Alex

Colors of Spring

Spring has so many colors here in the Southern Appalachians; more so it seems than in the fall, and just as ephemeral. I was struck by the colors of the Spanish Oak (Quercus falcata. Spanish Oak this year was a yellow green that defies description.

When you look at a hillside here in the early Spring, when the leaves are just coming out, you will see a palette of colors that simply cannot be described, and which boggles the mind. Each individual tree seems to have its own shade of some pastel color, and all the colors which can be seen in the Fall are muted. There are pinks, yellows, purples, reddish browns, and of course the greens, from emerald to pale yellow green.

You only see this sort of color show for a short time, so I will keep this post short. The colors have lasted about a week, and have been the prettiest I have seen in many a year, probably due to having plenty of rain.

If you live in Western NC, and want to see them, you need to get out. Travel the Parkway from Brevard Road to the Folk Art Center. When you are nearing US 74A, look on the eastern road bank for a small patch of blue which is Birdfoot Violet (Viola pedata), and a large shrub with orange flowers which is the Flame Azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum).

And, of course, enjoy Nature!