Save for one squirrel that I photographed with an acorn in its mouth, this site was void of animal life for the short while that I spent there. Fortunately the squirrel fulfilled my “phylum chordata” requirement. I had to use trees as some of the organisms that characterize my site, like sugar maple, white pine, and particularly Japanese barberry. The soil is sandy and easy to move. This is because the salmon hole site is a huge pit, where elevation drops off and rainwater spills down with it. Every time I come here I am astounded by how muddy it is. The white pines enjoy sandy soil, and the sugar maples must be able to tolerate it as well. I say barberry is particular because the site is littered with trash, debris, and invasive species. Japanese barberry is an incredibly invasive species with deep hard roots that make for tough removal. The beer cans and broken glass compliment the overall barberry aesthetic of the salmon hole. The squirrel characterizes my site because it is a versatile organism that can forage for food for winter pretty much wherever it can. This tiny parcels of forest like this have acorns and other food that the squirrel needs, so it forages there often. The last two organisms I saw were a mosquito and a cool mushroom. The mosquito flew away before I got the chance to snag a picture, but the mushroom was pretty tame and wasn’t alarmed by my presence like the squirrel or the ‘squito. It was growing on the side of a fallen tree and looked pretty mature. There was a smaller mushroom growing from its underside which was also cool. The vegetation nearly disappeared since my last visit. The few trees with remaining leaves are bright yellow, and the rest wave their naked stalks in the wind waiting for warm air to spring the cycle of growing once more. Most of the invasive underbrush was still bright green, which I attributed to its foreign nature. Mapping this site increased my physical awareness of where I was and what was around me. I was also kind of sketched out because it would be really easy to get mugged sitting on a bench in a clearing in the woods, so knowing my surroundings made me feel alert. Mapping also made me realize just how steeply elevation drops off. If you tried to walk in a straight line from my bench to the road, you would slip down a cliff of beer cans and mud. The constructed bridges and stairs are the only reasonable way to ascend back to the parking lot and road.
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