Kentucky surely deserved more time. On the back roads that Squatch prefers every curve was a picture postcard of the greenest grass a Nevada boy ever saw and striking black barns each with a unique quilt pattern mounted upon its upper eave and matching black fences curving across the rolling hillsides enclosing well bred horses. We had to start making our way towards Virginia and Washington D.C. but we did manage to make the most of a short visit.

Throughout this well manicured countryside are pockets of preserved native habitat more or less intact. As in many places, our forbearers managed to bring uninvited plant and animal guests some of whom aggressively overcrowd the locals. This is how we found ourselves joining a wonderful group on a Sierra Club outing to hack, pull and lop back as much invasive honeysuckle as we could in Raven Run Nature Preserve on the outskirts of Lexington. Like much of the region this is not primeval wilderness, people homesteaded here and worked the land to make a living. But that was an era when Americans had a generally lighter hand leaving plenty of native ecosystem to be nourished by folks like those we got to share the better part of a beautiful spring day working with.

To be fair there was another compelling reason to visit Kentucky, our mutual fondness of Bourbon. Some friends might say I have more than a casual interest in whiskey, but there was a bit of ecology to research as we discovered by touring a couple distilleries. Contrary to popular wisdom, bourbon does not need be made in Kentucky, anywhere in the U.S. qualifies but limestone rich aquifers such as you find in Kentucky are necessary. When one guide told of how the distillery shuts down for a couple months during the summer because the cooling river waters get too warm, I decided not to interrupt his polished monologue to ask if he was worried that climate change might give them more months of warm river water. We also learned that fermenting vats and ageing barrels are made with specific woods chosen for the characteristics they impart to the bourbon. Sourcing of these can be challenging, as some of these woods are getting hard to come by due to over harvesting. However, even though an aging barrel can only be used once for bourbon these valuable barrels have a number of secondary uses such as wine, beer and scotch making, and repurposing as furniture and other products. The spent grains are also passed on as livestock feed.

By far the most interesting thing we learned was that trees, shrubs and buildings near a distillery become blackened by the airborne off gassing. When we were told that prohibition agents used this fact to search for hidden backwoods stills, we came up with a theory that the barns of Kentucky were painted black to disguise illegal distilleries, though we couldn’t find anyone who thought this was true. Disappointingly none of the distillery folks seemed to know the actual reason for this blackening. Baudoinia compniacensis, is a black sac fungus that prefers habitat with broad temperature and humidity shifts such as are produced by distilleries, but it especially thrives on the airborne ethanol. They are apparently harmless to the trees and structures that they coat in vast black colonies. Maybe the bourbon producers think that fungus is bad PR for their industry. But I think that the truth of these little alcohol loving microorganisms is more interesting than telling us that the trees are drunk.

Taking advantage of a few days before a volunteer commitment on the coast of Louisiana we decided to drive up the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi.  The weather turned bitter cold making it difficult for us to want to leave the warm confines of Lil’Squatch’s cab. So it seemed the a drive was a good way to pass the time anyway.  Starting the trip from Natchez we took in what we could of the historic town, most noted for it’s wealth prior to the civil war.
The “Trace” is a popular drive in the spring when the magnolias are in bloom or in autumn when the leaves are adding a different kind of color to the drive. Being winter there was hardly anyone on the road for long stretches. It’s also possibly the best paved road in MS. Making this stretch the ideal drive for our little guy. Even though the speed limit is 50 we dawdled around 35. This speed was perfect for taking in the bare wooded surroundings. Several people mentioned how they enjoy woods in the winter because you can see back into what is otherwise a well vegetated stand of trees and vines. There are many stops on the Trace that highlight Native American life, plantation life and famous civil war battles. The parkway itself highlights the old dirt route used regularly from 1800-1820 but was most likely in use long before that as a Native American trading route. I kept seeing fluttering in the woods but when I looked harder nothing was there. There is a lot of residual energy in these old woods, a lot of stories to tell and histories to haunt them.

However, there is a relative new comer here too and we saw some right on the side of the road. Armadillos! I’ve only seen Armadillos on the road in another capacity and it wasn’t as cute as what I saw before me rummaging in the soils looking for bugs to eat. The one we stopped next to paid us no nevermind as we giggled and took pictures. Such silly animals grunting and shuffling along. The nine banded armadillo, the only kind in the US, has made its way up through Texas from central America only in the last 200 years and they are slowly expanding their range upwards. Roadways have actually helped them expand their range even if they do call them a “Texas Speed Bumps”. These animals breed at a healthy rate producing four identical quadruplets almost every litter and can have up to 15 litters in a lifetime.   Contrary to popular belief these particular armadillos don’t roll up into a ball (only the three banded species do) but their armor does protect their soft undersides.

While some people think they are a pest because they tear up their lawns others think they are a tasty pork like meat. However, it turns out they also can carry leprosy and you’re more likely to catch it from eating them than from just touching them. Personally I just think they are cute and am glad that I finally got to see one in its element instead of just being a poor little critter in the road.