You guys demonstrate my theory that cottonmouths are "passive-aggressive." Dangerous in that they don't move out of the path, often, and people who are not alert can step on them. Tales of them chasing people are usually highly exaggerated. This isn't to say it can't happen. Just that it's not a common behavior. My best cottonmouth story involved canoeing by myself on Rock Springs Run. I was in an area we call the Flats. Very shallow water, with a lot of grassy vegetation. Makes for slow canoeing as you try to glide through without digging up the bottom. I spotted a cottonmouth in the water, about 2 1/2 feet long, and close to the shore. It had a dead fish in its mouth. I don't think it killed the fish, but I can't be sure of that. But the fish looked REAL dead. It was a panfish of some type (bluegill, shellcracker, one of those) and quite wide, and this snake was trying its best to figure out how to swallow it. The snake worked its mouth slowly around the body of the fish, which was way, WAY too wide for it to swallow, and even tried to force it down sideways. The fish was probably ten inches long and no way was that snake going to get it down sideways. I let the canoe drift over fairly close, as I was enjoying the show. The snake finally began working its way towards the head of the fish, where it would have had the best chance to get it down, but suddenly noticed me or my canoe slowly nearing. If snakes could change expression, this one's eyes would have bugged out and his mouth would have dropped open. If they could talk, he would have been yelling "Holy Sheepdip! Where'd THAT come from??" He did a backflip away from the fish and took off for the weeds like a streak! It was so funny looking, I almost fell out of my canoe laughing at him. I always wondered if he came back later to finish working on the fish. But I didn't wonder about who was more scared by our encounter. He definitely was! Still...I am very careful on the river or in places where cottonmouths might lurk. They normally don't care if you approach them. I admire them, but I don't want to step on one or come face to face with one at any closer range than what I just described. I'm not NEARLY as brave as Wayne! Marcia

Hi All, I just wanted to make an interesting observation about the Indigo Rose that I planted from seed I collected the first time I grew it in 2012. I planted a flat of tomato seeds in the late spring of last year with the intention of planting a garden but due to a myriad of distractions I failed to do so... I kept watering the flat on occasion but was mostly neglectful and every so often would pull out the dead and dying until one day in august (I think, maybe september) I decided to plant the survivors who were quite stunted but alive none the less! To my surprise they immediately jumped into action and began to grow rapidly, so since I live in temperate Southern California I decided to let them go and see what happened, in short order they started to set fruit but not ripen very quickly which is a known factor so in keeping with my 2014 gardening 'style' I ignored them some more except for watering and they continued to grow and set fruit throughout the the fall and winter and I have been able to pick some ripe fruit through December and January so far... I was pruning them back yesterday and noticed that some plants were still putting off new branches and flowers so it makes me wonder if I kept better care of future plantings whether or not they might become something of a perennial tomato... Interesting huh?

yes, we have a birder's paradise here. Right now it is positively buzzing, with new neotropical arriving daily. Head the first whip-poor-will yesterday, and THINK I heard a parula this afternoon. Heard the oriole-like whistle of a rose-breasted grosbeak yesterday and then today, heard it again, close to the house this time, and sure enough there he was. Will have to be keeping an eye out for the blue grosbeaks and the evenings, although they aren't always dependable like the RBGs. Yes, the buntings seem to have a love for the taller grasses and thicker stuff here. A lot of times a male will sit on the power line and just go nuts with song, even when it gets hot. Nests fascinate me and annoy me at the same time because I have been too lazy to study the differences and learn to tell what bird made them. I found a nest of blue-grey gnatcatchers a few years back, and I could stand under the nest and watch the yougsters at lunch time, but it was at least 20 feet off the ground and I could never get a good look at how it was made. Think it might have had lichens on it, much like a hummer's nest. Plenty of birds, alright. In fact, come on over and stay a while....as long as you take a few thousand of our OTHER birds back when you leave. I'll give you a hint: they make a distinct whining call, are extremely gregarious, and have a specially adapted bill well suited for their liquid diet.

At 20" an indigo would be more brown than black. When I lived in Florida, I saw a hatchling indigo about 6' above the ground on a 10' chain link fence. I lived in the Tampa area and occasionally found a southern black racer with no or very little white around the chin. I first thought or hoped it was an indigo, but the labial scales were wrong for indigo.