Armand Nature Center

Another exciting day in Texas. Look at those 3 brave turtles.

Today I drove to the Armand Nature Center which was about  a 20 minute drive. I got there around 11 and it doesn't open until noon. I spent the hour reading a book in my car. Two other cars waited with me. Right at noon I saw 8 cars drive through the gates. This is a popular spot. I wanted to learn about venomous snakes and spiders. Admission was only 4 dollars for a senior. I ended up staying until 5 p.m. This is a bison they have in the prairie section.

I wore my water proof boots and long pants and long sleeves. I sprayed mosquito spray on my boots, clothes and hat. The weather was 70 degrees when I arrived and 73 when I left. The breeze kept most of the mosquitoes away. This path was very muddy which is why I wore boots. Inside the exhibit building I saw snapping turtles and northern diamondback turtles, Texas coral snake, Western pygmy rattle snake, and Western cotton mouth snake. They have 3 kinds of tree frogs.

This is my first ever Inca dove. I saw lots of Northern cardinals, two ruby crowned kinglets, a Carolina wren and 3 Carolina chickadees. I saw a Forster's Tern, anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great White Egret, Osprey eating a red drum fish, Laughing Gulls, Red bellied woodpeckers, American Robin, 8 Chukar (in a cage), a female alligator surrounded by turtles, tadpoles, a marsh rabbit and a gray squirrel.

I asked the naturalist what was venomous. She mentioned the white caterpillars that hang out on the wooden benches or handrails. She told me to be careful not to touch them. I talked to a kid who was hitting branches with a stick. He told me not to eat those red berries because I would die instantly. I said I had thought about tasting them. I said my Grandpa told me to only eat the berries that I saw birds were eating but that was not true. The kid said maybe your Grandpa didn't like you that much. Well, that got dark suddenly. I know birds can eat berries that humans can't or shouldn't but now I wonder if humans can eat berries that birds can't. I met a family watching birds and the woman asked me if I was a Master Naturalist. Turns out she and her husband are Master Naturalists. She is working with a company that is converting an abandoned golf course into a green space for a local city. The city doesn't want any interpretive signs put up which frustrates her. She is thinking about using QR codes. We had a good talk. The nature center has a garden for children including a sensory garden. Inside I saw a long leafed plant called a cast iron plant. That was new to me. This place has a farm house built by 2 people from Minnesota in 1895. The hurricane in 1900 blew the house off the foundation and set it down a mile away. I looked through the windows but the doors were locked. That house had been through a lot. I think I walked 6 or 7 miles today.