Recent Articles from BRMC Newsletters

Trail Talk

Things are warming up at the mountain house. The string of warm days have nearly sapped the chill out of the stone floors and my annual visitors have left the building. There is a little known fact about life in the mountain house and that is the laundry room doubles as a hibernation spot for a group of black rat snakes. About three or four black rat snakes, varying in length from three to five feet, nest back behind the wall of my washer and dryer. Every fall they sneak their way into the house, by an unknown route, and coil up near the copper piping until they shed their skin and slip away behind the wall during winter. Every spring they emerge again, shed their skins, and leave the house until the cool weather returns. Just so you don't think I'm making this up, I've posted a photo of one of our little visitors below.

Although the black rat snakes have disappeared, our local population of ticks has emerged in full force. I've lost my total tick count, but I'm guessing I pull two to three ticks off of my clothes or body every time I hike up on the trail. My naïve hope that a large population of ticks would perish during our winter freeze, but that isn't the case. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website provides information about the prevention, transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of lyme disease. I urge you to visit the CDC website (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/index.htm) and review the information.

Outside of life at the mountain house, I'm pleased to report that I graduated from George Mason University with a degree in Geography. Now that I have the degree out of the way, the trick is to find a job in my field. I recently had an interview in California and I'm waiting on a date for an interview in Florida, so if you don't see an article from me in the next newsletter… you'll know why.

I'd like to thank our new visitors who have made the commitment to support the conservancy by becoming members and everyone who continues to support our work here at BRMC. Your support is vital to our continued success.

I'll see you on the trails.

A black rat snake emerges from hibernation