Flora and Fauna

At first glance, our land in West Virginia seems rather barren of animal life.  There are a few large animals such as deer and wild turkey which you can occasionally see but these are wary animals which avoid people.  I once caught a glimpse of a coyote and the locals claim to see bear now and then.  I am surprised that squirrels are very rare.  Most of the trees are oaks and there are acorns on the ground everywhere so you would think that it would be a sort of squirrel paradise.  I can only figure that the locals have hunted the squirrels to near extinction.  There are smaller animals, however, which fall into the categories of reptiles, amphibians, and arthropods which presumably are not palatable to the local hunters.  So if you look closely, you can find toads, turtles, snakes, frogs, salamanders, crayfish, spiders, beetles, etc.  I photograph these creatures when I can and will add to the collection below when I do.  I have also included some photos of some of the local plant and fungus life.  I am in the process of identifying these species and any input you would like to offer in that direction would be appreciated.

Toads are common but can be hard to see since they are the color of the forest floor.
They come in sizes ranging from about a cm. to about 10 cm.
This one is one of the larger ones I've seen.

Eastern box turtles like this one are very shy.  

This caterpillar probably was hoping to find a branch as it reached out.

These tired dogs are not native.  They are my daughter's dogs which Nick was watching while she was on vacation.

I don't know what this is the larvae of but the false eye spots are incredible.

Don't eat this one.

Many of the surface rocks are covered with lichen.

These bracket fungi growing on a cut oak log are faintly bioluminescent.
I could not get a photo of their nocturnal light with the equipment I have so you'll have to take my word on it.

The mushrooms are primarily a springtime phenomenon when it is wet enough.

Some of the locals collect and eat the wild mushrooms.