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By Sheila Barnett, VMN-Riverine Chapter

Spring is mating season. Earlier this month we found three black rat snakes in our chicken coop. One was eating an egg while two were mating on the floor.  Back in March, a snake shed its skin in our mud room. It was an impressive 5 1/2 feet long (we measured it). It too, belonged to a black rat snake. (You can tell if it’s a venomous or non-venomous snake by looking at the ribbing pattern on its belly). I’m cool with sharing my house with black snakes, but we are discriminatory about how many snakes we let live rent free in our house we’ve found snake skins in our mud room and around our washer and dryer so we knew that we had snakes in the walls. Considering that we live in an old farm house with lots of nooks and crannies, this isn’t surprising. We would much rather have the non-venomous black snakes to help with the mouse population than many mice.

Last week my husband called me to me; “Sheila, there’s a snake by the washing machine, come quickly.” The snake had been on the floor. Soon though, its head popped up over the dials at the top of the dryer. I told James to look at the circular hole in the ceiling because another black rat snake was looking out and looking down at the other snake as if to say; “Oh yes, I’ve been expecting you. Come on up, my love.” The snake behind the dryer uncurled and stretched out and climbed up the wall to meet his lady friend. He crawled into the hole with her and got situated and soon we had two black rat snake heads looking out from the hole in the wall. They must have decided that the time was right to slither out of the hole and get onto the top of the shelves above the laundry. They became entwined and began knocking my paper bags off of the shelf. Not too long after these passionate love-making and rambunctious snakes started on the top of the shelf, they hung down by their tails for a while before falling onto the dryer where they proceeded to knock items off of the dryer.

James and I discussed about whether or not we should leave them alone or serve them with an eviction notice. We know that a reptile resident left us a 5 1/2 foot snake skin that lives in the wall and there are probably other snakes that we don’t know about living in our wall. Also, I didn’t want snake babies living in our house too, so James decided to serve an immediate eviction notice. He picked them up behind their heads and carried them to the back door. They were very docile… The snakes both looked very happy. I’d never noticed a snake’s expression. It will musk if it’s scared, but these two snakes appeared to be smiling, peaceful and happy. If I could have put words into one of the snake’s mouths it would have been “Peace man. Make snakes, not war.” The other snake looked to me to be in a complete state of bliss. My husband didn’t have his shoes on so when we opened the door so he just pitched them out the door and into the gravel driveway. I hope that the snakes at least slithered off of into the nice bed of periwinkle to finish their business. They were about 4 feet long and very well rounded, so it looks like they had eaten their fair share of mice.

The VMN program recognizes volunteers who complete 250, 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 7,500, and 10,000 hours of service.  These are cumulative volunteer hours starting when a volunteer joins the program.  To offer some perspective, a volunteer who does the 40 hours of service annually to maintain status as a Certified Virginia Master Naturalist would take 6-7 years to achieve the 250 hour milestone and 125 years to achieve the 5,000 hour milestone!  

Below, we have listed the volunteers who have achieved these milestones between January and June 2018 (based on reports received by our chapters as of July 31.)  Some of these volunteers have demonstrated long-term dedication through many years with the program.  Others have joined the program more recently, but they have done extraordinary levels of service in a short time frame.  We are honored to have all of them sharing their time and talents as Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers, and we are pleased to recognize their efforts in this newsletter and with special milestone pins.  Their names are listed alphabetically within each chapter.

In addition, although we cannot list them all here, we are thrilled to recognize the many Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers who certified for the first time this year, meaning they completed 40 hours of volunteer service and 8 hours of continuing education. Congratulations, everyone, and thank you for your service!

​Laurels for Judy Jones, Nature Photographer and Past President of Historic Rivers Chapter
By Shirley Devan, VMN-Historic Rivers Chapter

In 2008, Judy Jones was still teaching reading at a local Williamsburg elementary school when her spouse, an avid naturalist, joined Cohort IV for Basic Training. In 2012, her spouse died after a relatively short fight with cancer. Our chapter offered Judy emotional support and she began to feel a part of the group.

In 2013 after retirement, Judy began Basic Training in Cohort VIII. She was a quick study and soon became an enthusiastic Master Naturalist.  

​In March 2016, Judy became President of our chapter. She was a superb Chapter leader skilled in group facilitation and full of compassion for everyone in our Chapter. Judy always has a “thank you” for to our volunteers: “excellent job, amazing work, impressed by your contributions, great success, wholeheartedly approve, and much more.”  She is a true champion of our Chapter and our members.

Since she joined Historic Rivers Chapter, Judy has become a skilled wildlife photographer. Each year she participates in our chapter and state VMN photo contests and submits her stunning nature photos to various local, state and national contests. This summer, VIRGINIA WILDLIFE magazine published Judy’s photo of a Sharp-shinned Hawk in the Fauna category. Also, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s 2019 Calendar features Judy’s photo of a fisherman casting his net into the Bay.
Many nature lovers in Virginia and the mid-Atlantic region are enjoying Judy’s photos. Congratulations, Judy!

BRFAL Graduates New Volunteers
By Geoff Orth, VMN-BRFAL
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​The Blue Ridge Foothills and Lakes (BRFAL) chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists (VMN) class of fifteen students from Bedford and Franklin Counties  graduated April 28 in a ceremony at Sontag Park near Rocky Mount. They had completed a two-and-a-half month course focused on nature themes over eight weekday evenings and three Saturdays. 

Highlights included Nell Fredericksen’s herpetology class, complete with live snakes and amphibians; the  basics of birding, led by Linda Corey of Roanoke, including instruction on how to use binoculars; nature hikes led by Ferrum faculty members Bob Pohlad and Todd Fredericksen; and overviews of the worlds of insects, led by Kal Ivanov, staff entomologist at the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, and  fish, led by chapter mentor Don Kelso, an emeritus professor at George Mason University.  

Students were supplied with pocket manuals and computer apps for identification of trees and shrubs; mammals, from bears to moles and voles; butterflies; wildflowers; and insects. They needed all of these references to complete their field work and the final assessment, which was conducted along BTWNM’s extensive trail network.  As part of that assessment, students were required to identify trees, vines, and shrubs; evidence of mammals; stream, soil, and geological features; and plants and wildflowers. They were also asked to explain various other natural processes, such as bird migration, natural succession after such events as forest fires, and seed propagation.  

New River Valley Chapter Member Receives Presidential Recognition

Steve Bridges, Certified VMN in the New River Valley Chapter, received the President’s Volunteer Award in recognition of his service as a range monitor in the Jefferson National Forest.

Shout-outs for Three High Knob Chapter Members

Myrel Short was recognized for his exceptional service maintaining the Pine Mountain Trail (PMT), which borders Virginia and Kentucky.  Other PMTC board members frequently joke that Myrel is a one-man trail crew, due to the amount of time and energy he gives to the upkeep of the trail.  A USFS employee recently commented in an online discussion that the PMT is the most well-maintained trail in the district.  (Note: You can read more about the Pine Mountain Trail in a Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine article by Wally Smith, an instructor and local partner for the VMN-High Knob Chapter.  Also check out the trail website)

Paxton Allgyer received the Diane Relf Master Gardener College scholarship to attend the VCE Master Gardener College (similar to the VMN Statewide Conference and Volunteer Training) in June.  Congratulations, Paxton!

Chris Allgyer was featured in a Coalfield Progress article for his retirement from Mountain Empire Community College in May.  Chris was the last original MECC professor, having taught math at the college for 46 years.  He’s planning to use his retirement to spend more time on volunteer service and being a VMN volunteer!

Awards for Fairfax Master Naturalist Volunteer and Partner

Rentz Hilyer, VMN-Fairfax Chapter, received the Beautification and Environmental Improvement Award from the Friends of Little Hunting Creek for his service cleaning up and enhancing a public trail at the creek.  Rentz also serves as the Vice President of the Fairfax Master Naturalists and works at the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust.

Alonso Abugattas, a longtime instructor and partner for several Northern Virginia VMN Chapters received the 2018 National Association for Interpretation Master Interpretive Manager Award, one of NAI’s most prestigious awards.

Originally published as press release by Krista Timney, Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment

Just in time for the summer months when more people venture into the outdoors — and come into contact with poison ivy and other plants that are best avoided — there is a new reference guide to some of Virginia’s poisonous plants.

The Socrates Project: Poisonous Plants in Virginia is a collaborative effort between the Virginia Master Naturalist Program and Virginia Cooperative Extension.

“This project is the first of its kind in a couple of ways. It’s the first publication of its kind focused on poisonous plants in Virginia, and it was a totally volunteer-driven effort,” said Michelle Prysby, statewide coordinator of the Virginia Master Naturalist Program and Extension associate for Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.

The core group of volunteers who produced the guide was led by Alfred Goossens of the Old Rag Master Naturalists chapter, which serves Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock counties. He saw the need for the project owing to the high incidence of contacts with poisonous plants, many of which land people in emergency rooms, a fact he confirmed with the director of the Blue Ridge Poison Center.

Recent reports that the noxious giant hogweed had been spotted in Clarke County, Virginia, which was confirmed by Virginia Tech researchers, has raised additional interest in poisonous plants. Goossens had already planned to include giant hogweed in the publication, as he was familiar with it having grown up in Holland.

Once Goossens enlisted the support of his chapter members, the project took about two years to complete. Volunteers settled on the format, wrote the data sheets for the individual plants, and contributed photographs. There was also a peer-review process to ensure the accuracy of the material.

In addition to Prysby’s support, Senior Extension Agent Adam Downing wrote one of the data sheets and leveraged his connections to help with the publication. “This project will benefit many Virginians by informing them of the realistic hazards with our key poisonous plants,” he said. “We don’t want to cause alarm, but do want people to be able to enjoy the outdoors by being better informed of a few plants to notice and treat appropriately.”

In order to ensure that people remain aware of which plants to watch for, Goossens is also working with Master Naturalist chapters across the state on a second edition of the guide that will include additional poisonous species.  The project team members are working on compiling a list of additional species to include, and they invite VMN volunteers from across the state to send in photos of poisonous plants in their region.

“Now it’s a Virginia project. It changed from just the Piedmont to all of Virginia because people all over the state need this info,” Goossens said.

“The Socrates Project: Poisonous Plants in Virginia,” publication number CNRE-13NP, is available as a downloadable pdf file at the Virginia Cooperative Extension website. For more information on the project, contact the team at socratesormn@gmail.com.