Green From Ground to Crown

Written By: Deena Bouknight | Issue: July 2024

The differences are extreme in this area from the winter months to spring into summer.

Still beautiful but bleak landscapes give way to a burst of green from the ground to treetops. Once vast views are sometimes obscured by dense foliage, yet trees and shrubs provide a feast for the eyes in their leaf shapes and hues or torrent of blooms.

Hiking, biking, and walking along the countless paths and trails on the Plateau is all more fascinating when there is some knowledge of what might be viewed.

Handy, backpack-size fold-out native tree, shrub, and wildflower identifier guides are available in many book and outfitter stores.

Details about what one might encounter is available from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission – visit ncwildlife.org/learning/species. A plethora of categories is provided, complete with photographs, details on habitat, species names, idiosyncrasies, etc.

In this area, for example, chipmunks are common. We all know that they store nuts and seeds in their mouth pouches and save them for later to eat. However, NCWRC shares that these adorable little creatures also eat amphibians, insects, and small birds! What?

And, speaking of amphibians, our creeks, streams, and rivers are loaded with salamanders – from ones that are slight and bright red to the prehistoric looking and sizeable Eastern Hellbenders. Salamanders are captivating critters and in order to protect them should not be touched, caught, or played with.

While snakes are feared by many who venture outdoors, they can be appreciated as well. Black snakes feast on rodents and even copperheads, which are prevalent in these mountains – as are rattlesnakes.

However, contrary to common myth: “While a copperhead bite is painful and should be treated as serious, it is not considered life-threatening,” states NCWRC. A bite from a timber rattler is serious and could be life threatening.

Yet instead of being afraid, just be cautious, realizing that both venomous snakes have markings that provide camouflaging among leaves, rocks, brush, etc. Avoid meandering off trails, and if encountering one of these snakes on a trail, leave it alone, walk way around it, and let people coming from the other direction know that it was spotted.

And, contrary to what one might see in movies or read in books, there is a right way and a wrong way to treat a snake bite. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention informs that while waiting for emergency medical services or while being driven by someone to a hospital:

-“Lay or sit down with the bite in a neutral position
of comfort.

-Remove rings and watches before swelling starts.

-Wash the bite with soap and water.

-Cover the bite with a clean, dry dressing.

-Mark the leading edge of tenderness/swelling on the skin and write the time alongside it.

-Do not pick up the snake or try to trap it. NEVER handle a venomous snake, not even a dead one or its decapitated head.

-Do not wait for symptoms to appear if bitten, get medical help right away.

-Do not apply a tourniquet.

-Do not slash the wound with a knife or cut it in any way.

-Do not try to suck out the venom.

-Do not apply ice or immerse the wound in water.

-Do not drink alcohol as a painkiller.

-Do not take pain relievers (such as aspirin,
ibuprofen, naproxen).”

On a happier note, two of the most enchanting aspects of traversing Appalachian woods this time of year is coming across various lichens and mushrooms.

The U.S. Forest Service notes that lichens are broken down into three categories, crustose, foliose, and fruticose, and each one has a different texture, shape, and color. They grow on trees, logs, and rocks and can be enjoyable to evaluate and photograph. Like mushrooms, some lichens are edible, and American Indians such as the Cherokee sometimes used them for various medicinal and culinary purposes, as well as for dyes, but some are also toxic. Unless someone is a lichen expert, it is best not to ingest.

And about this time of year, the monarchs converge. Besides a variety of dainty to stunning butterflies that are born and die here, the monarch butterflies begin to migrate through on their 2,000-plus-mile journey from the Northeast to where many will end up, in Mexico. They are recognizable by their orange, black, and white patterned wings. Look for milkweed and joe-pye weed and a number of other native summer flowing plants and a monarch may be feeding on it. In fact, milkweed nectar is their meal of choice because monarch larvae need milkweed plants to produce a chemical that makes them unpalatable to predators.