The Lion, the Screw, and the Green Dewberry

Off to climb Whitman's Rough (the boulder slope behind the home-site) in search of more signs of a mountain lion.  Two days ago while running a chain saw through the brush to make a traversing trail up to the top, I found a fallen juniper log with what appeared to have several dumps of cougar scat drying nicely.  And not far away from the log, what would typically provide suitable den space.

I really don't know if this is cougar scat or that of a coyote-dog prone to using a

balance beam for a toilet. But whose ever it is, they are sharing it with a raccoon.

  Usually cougar scat is the same size as a dog's or coyote's but possesses distinctly rounded ends and is divided into fairly clear segments, each about one inch in diameter.  The rounded ends were not quite so evident on these specimen.

(This is one special blog, that measures the scat for its dear reader.)

This den-like room among the boulders sits about forty feet north of the scat log.

Inside.

Spring green from the back porch of a mountain lion (of course).

All sorts of waiting places for a mountain lion up in the limestone boulders of 
Whitman's Rough.

If there's a cougar, this would be its trail across Whitman's Rough.

Project: replace all the loose screws on the Hog Shop roof.

So, we need to move into this Hog Shop at some date. But the details to take care of until that time appear endless.  And we have had plenty of help, so no complaints there.  I just drive over to our local and relatively small hardware store, tell the paunchy old man with the Boston accent or the skinny old man in the baggy shorts what my project is, and they take me by the hand and we go aisle to aisle finding the right size of PVC connectors or hex screws or Romex cable.  It's a much more rewarding experience than driving over to our huge store with the motto: "You Can Do It -- Fine, Then Do It."

New-green lighting up the ridge beyond the creek.

One of the first blackberry blossoms from the plants we set next to the orchard.

A shaded little thing growing next to the front gate.  Looks like a geranium or one among the Mallow family (Malvacae).  Perhaps a Rock Rose.  It's a name worth owning, anyhow.

And over near the pond and among the stones, the wild dewberries have dropped their white blossoms and have begun to grow small green berries, ripe for the picking in another month and a half or so.

Harlin's capture of a drought-stricken dewberry fruit (above) and flower (below) alongside the trail leading up the west side of The Pond. 

Last weekend we enjoyed a Saturday with the Hansons and Millers eating more than we had a right to under the Live Oak. And on Sunday, the Little Lady and I donned our dorky snorkel gear and swam with the perch, black bass, and carp among diatomaceous scum and otherwise clear, cold Creek waters.

Here is a start to a plant list of species identified so far, thanks to the work of Harlin.  He and I would both agree that we are seeing more than what's listed here, but those additions will have to wait for another day.  And hopefully, mundane tasks involving hex screws and burn piles will have their end, and I will be able to spend much of  the remainder of my small days filling out Harlin's list with endless descriptions and anecdotes.

Genus	species	English	Family
Juniperus	ashei	Ashe Juniper	Cupressaceae
Pellaea	ovata	Zigzag cliffbrake	Polypodiaceae
Juglans		Walnut	Juglandaceae
Quercus		Live Oak	Fagaceae
Siphonoglossa	pilosella	Tube Tongue	Acanthaceae
Rhus	toxicodendron	Poison Ivy	Anacardiaceae
Calyptocarpus	vialis	Lawn flower	Asteraceae
Amblyolepis		Huisache Daisy	Asteraceae
Chaptala		Silver Puff	Asteraceae
Sonchus		Sow Thistle	Asteraceae
Hymenoxys	scaposa	Bitterweed	Asteraceae
Xanthium	strumarium	Cocklebur	Asteraceae
Berberis	trifoliata	Agarita	Berberidacaea
Onosmodium	bejariense	Flase Gromwell	Boraginaceae
Opuntia		Pickly Pear	Cactaceae
Opuniea		Pencil Cactus	Cactaceae
Tradescantia	gigantea	Giant Spiderwort	Commelinaceae
Convolvulus		Bindweed	Convolvulaceae
Capsella	bursa-pastoris	Sheperd's Purse	Cruciferae
Cucurbita	foetidissima	Stinking Gourd	Cucurbitaceae
Croton		Bush Croton	Euphorbiaceae
Tragia		Noseburn	Euphorbiaceae
Sophora	secundiflora	Texas Mountain Laurel	Fabiaceae
Melilotus		Clover	Fabiaceae
Lupinus		Bluebonnet	Fabaceae
Sesbania	drummondii	Rattlebush	Fabaceae
Prosopis	glandulosa	Mesquite	Fabaceae
Phaecelia	congesta	Blue Curls	Hydrophllaceae
Cisyrinchium	ensigerum	Blue-eyed Grass	Iridaceae
Salvia	farinacea	Mealy sage	Lamiaceae
Lamium	amplexicaule	Henbit	Lamiaceae
Smilax	bona-nox	Greenbriar	Liliaceae
Alium		Wild Garlic	Liliaceae
Nothoscordium	bivalve	Crow Poison	Liliaceae
Wissadula	holosericea	Velvetleaf Mallow	Malvaceae
Colubrina (?)	texensis	Hog Plum	Rhamnaceae
Plantanus	occidentalis	American Sycamore	Plantanaceae
Phlox		Phlox	Polemoniaceae
Oxalis		Wood Sorrel	Oxalidaceae
Oenothera	laciniata	Cutleaf Evening Primrose	Onagraceae
Ungnadia	speciosa	Mexican Buckeye	Sapindaceae
Mimulus	glabrata	Monkey Flower	Scrophulaceae
Veronica	anagallis-aquatica	Water Speedwell	Scrophulaceae
Celtis	laevigata	Hackberry	Ulmaceae
Ulmus		Elm	Ulmaceae
Verbena		Vervain	Verbenaceae
Cissus	incisa	Cow Itch	Vitaceae

The following four photographs come compliments of Harlin.  Indebtedness knows no depths.

Shepherd's Purse

 Tradescantia-gigantica

Bindweed

Smilax

The universe may be large.  There may even be other universes.  But the endlessness of an unwalked, unexplored, unseen universe will never be as vast to me as a few acres of spring-born creek, stonefield, meadow, limestone  boulder-fall, and juniper thicket.  The thought of rounding a bend in the trail and facing a mountain lion excites me to the marrow, but it would satisfy me no more than a trembling last-year's sweetbrier leaf, tenuous in the early April wind.