A student, lower left, is dwarfed by the fall-colored hickories, oaks and pine trees lining the path and edges of Coleman Creek as it winds through the University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus on Dec. 2.
Having a cool down
An northern watersnake allows the rushing water of Coleman Creek to cool and disguise him on a warm late summer afternoon in Little Rock. A small colony of these snakes inhabit part of the creek that runs through the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Chomp!
This mushroom’s glorious red was striking against the green grassy background. Thought I’d go ’round the back to see how the reverse angle might be. Looks like a squirrel got there first!
House of cards
Every so often, the lawn near the fine arts building on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus turns into a showcase for student projects.
Here’s hoping no ill winds will blow any time soon.
Coleman Creek
Coleman Creek is an urban creek, encompassed in parts by the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the neighboring Cooperative Extension Service headquarters. There’s a fairly broad bit of woodlands on either side of the creek at the extension service side. The green areas support small populations of foxes, coyotes, raccoons, red-tailed hawks, kingfishers, various rodentia, stray dogs, bobcats, and at times, camps set up by the homeless.
The creek itself supports fish, turtles, freshwater mussels and crawdads. It is a welcome oasis and a tremendous natural resource right in the middle of town.



Weekly Photo Challenge: Connected
This week’s challenge is all about being connected. Shoes off and safely slung between two trees, a student takes advantage of a warm, sunny afternoon in a campus green belt to keep connected via cell phone.

The stripper
The squirrels on the UA-Little Rock campus are used to people — hundreds of people — tromping past at any particular time of day.

Generally, however, they will hop away to maintain a safe distance should a human make too close an approach. Not so with one squirrel, who was intent on a strange activity — stripping bark from a cypress tree. The squirrel hopped down, ripped up a mouthful of mulch, then hopped back up the tree (mouth empty) to begin ripping and stripping again.
I have a query in to our local extension wildlife and forestry specialists about this odd behavior. It’s been noted elsewhere, according to the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management. There are multiple theories for this behavior, such as the need for nutrients or water. (this spring, however, there is no shortage of either for this scholarly squirrel). Reason 5 may be the most accurate: “We may never have a complete understanding of why bark-stripping occurs.”


The waxwing tree
The phone rang. A colleague upstairs called to see if I’d seen the flocks of cedar waxwings sweeping and swirling from tree to tree around the office grounds and adjacent campus. The birds moved almost as one; stripping the hollies of their berries and continually finding new places to roost. Waxwings are beautiful birds with their masks and crests. Look closely and you can see accents of bright yellow and pink in tips of their wings and tails.

