Keddie Cascades Trail, an afterword

 Another millipede photo from last Thursday's hike on the Keddie Cascades Trail.  On a cold day, the millipedes tend to stay curled into a tight spiral under rocks, logs, bark, etc.  My son and I have often breathed on them in the palm of our hands until they warm up enough to stretch out and crawl.  That makes for more interesting photos.  We are familiar with the trace of cyanide odor they often leave behind.  This time my son was startled when the larger millipede literally sprayed him in the face and left behind a light-yellow ring of stain on both his face and hand.  Fortunately, he wears glasses, or this might have been painful to his eyes.  I've known various beetles that could spray, but never a millipede.  I have since spoken with one entomologist and he had never heard of this phenomenon, nor could I find any reference to it online.  Nature never runs out of surprises!

 Our first reptile sighting of the season was this small Bluebelly, also known as the Northwestern Fence Lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis occidentalis.  We don't mind handling these gently as they seldom drop their tails unless attacked.  The skinks, on the other hand, which we hope to start seeing soon, can drop their tails even before being handled if they are frightened.  We avoid causing this because the energy required to regrow a tail usually means skipping a breeding season.

 A close view.  Bluebellies hand-tame easily if you are gentle with them.

 These attractive leaves reminded me a little of Rattlesnake Plantain and of Prince's Pine, but I don't think it's either of these.  My springtime botany skills are rusty, so I'll have to wait until this one blooms or perhaps one of the followers of this blog will recognize it.

 A shelf fungus gets its start on a huge Douglas-fir.  This is a general category of fungi based on their shape and location, so it's not the name of a particular species.  They can get quite large, so I will look for this one throughout the summer when I hike this trail.

 Here's an organism, a symbiotic pair actually, the fascinated Beatrix Potter before she gave up on the male-dominated science establishment and began writing children's stories about rabbits.  She was actually one of the first to recognize that lichens were a symbiotic pairing of algae and fungi. 

Here's a repeat from my first series on the Keddie Cascades outing.  So far, I haven't been able to identify it, but it was growing on a dry, sanding slope among hundreds of Shooting Stars.  If you know what it is, feel free to post it in the comments section.