jds6643's Identifications

Peeking out in an area of dead leaves near the trunk of a large tree. Ant pile nearby. Possibly source for ants? Early February, flowers could bloom towards end of month but no budding seen yet. I assume as spring arrives, the abundance of dead leaves could be a great source of energy for the growth of the ragwort, and could be an early blooming species due to the dead leaves. Soil is also kept moist due to leaves blocking evaporation, so plant could have a larger access to water in times of drought stress during the winter months.

What looks like a common raccoon, rolling around the cool, moist soil after the rain. This species has been seen by observer many times over the years in this area, but only in the evening after the sun is down. Species seems to prefer cool weather. Many people stopped around to take photos, but he did not appear afraid after any period of time. Came out of the bush, possibly where they spend their day time, sleeping. After laying around in the dirt, trotted to the tree and began digging into the dirt with long claws. Possibly has a diet filled with bugs and other invertebrates.

Squirrel seen under table in densely populated area of humans. Area has large, surrounding trees within feet for squirrels to house and reside in. This could be a great ecosystem for squirrels to live in, as food left behind by humans are abundant for squirrel to next on, as well as having a variety of tall trees to nest in. The squirrel looked larger than many in the species photos, which can be assumed the leftover food has an impact. Not many wildlife besides raccoon seen in the area, so possible that squirrel has a low stress lifestyle and does not need to compete.

Common Greenshield Lichen growing among the woody tissue of many trees in the area. This lichen covered not only a large area of the extending branches of the tree but among the rest of the trunk. The lichen was only seen on the woody tissue of the trees; this could be feeding off the nutrients within the trees and hold some form of symbiotic relationship by complementing the trees in some way.