The Gorton Fisherman and the attack of the Fog Amphibians

In our early days here at Cooper Furnace we had some rough weather. Enough so that if you’re doing anything outside you really needed to dress for it. One of those mornings I was riding through the park all dressed for it myself when I had an encounter with a stranger that somehow seemed familiar. He came looming out of the mist down by the river all dressed in a yellow slicker and nor’easter with boots, bucket, a big smile on his face, and the whole thing. I was sure it was the ………….. and then he spoke and I knew I had been duped. As he reached the top of the stairs from the river he said, “how y’all doing this morning, ya’ like my Gorton Fisherman outfit”? It was Ronnie, my favorite member of the maintenance and ground crew. Ronnie is just one of those people you have to like. He works hard, always waves or says ‘hey’, and never fails to let you know he’s willing to do what needs to be done. He’s a nice guy and another of the many people we’ve had the pleasure to meet in our travels.

That night as we drove through the dark and the rain down to lock the gate, we had to dodge the frogs jumping toward the headlights so as to avoid squishing them under the tires. The gate is about ¾ of a mile down the road and through a tunnel of trees and undergrowth. Normally it’s a very nice drive or bike ride but in the rain and the dark and the fog, with frogs jumping out at you, it was really a pretty creepy thing. Then, I was out in the rain closing the gate and see something slithering off the road and away from the car headlights. I went over to check it out and discovered a pretty good size Spotted salamander. It was a reddish brown and maybe 8” long. As salamanders go, it was pretty cool! So now you know why I call this entry the “The Gorton Fisherman and the attack of the Fog Amphibians”.

Since then we have seen several ‘Blue Tailed skinks (pictured) and Jade got loose to chase a snake. She was at the end of her string very intent on something in the woods and so Kat let her loose to see what she was seeing. Just as she did, she realized it was a snake so we’re both running after Jade trying to get her before something bad happens, because we have heard there are Copperheads and Water moccasins in the area. Jade chased the snake under some rocks and I hooked her collar with a lucky stab of my stick at about the same time and pulled her away by the scruff of her neck. So now we don’t let her loose much to chase things. Although, she did go after another skink under the coach just yesterday. I had to save the skink, less a goodly amount of tail. Just another day in Georgia with the reptiles and critters.