It turns out Sierra is incredible at spotting wildlife. After our romp through Porter Cave, when we were climbing the hill back up to the meadow, Sierra stopped me and exclaimed: "Bobcat!" This Lynx rufus was a beautiful creature, sparing us a sidelong glance but not really seeming to care that we were there at all. We pursued it as quietly as we could, but it crept further and further away from us.
Since I didn't manage to get a picture of the bobcat, here's a picture of one of its favorite foods: a brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani), in the upper quarry.
Sierra also showed me a plum tree at the base of Science Hill, and on one of its branches I saw a lichen which I thought at first was gold-eye, but then I saw that its discs had no lashes. According to Natural History, Teloschistes exilis is a relatively rare lichen on campus, and looks like gold-eye with no lashes. I have only seen gold-eye once, so I can't imagine how rare T. exilis must be.
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| The lichen on Science Hill that I think is Teloschistes exilis. |
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| A gold-eye lichen for comparison. |
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