~The Natural State~......MISSISSIPPI

[olena]

State Fish

Largemouth Bass
Micropterus salmoides


Description To 3'2" (97 cm); 22 1/4 lbs (10.1 kg). Moderately deep, robust; back olive to dark green, mottled; sides greenish yellow with dark midlateral stripe; head greenish gold. Mouth large, extends beyond posterior edge of eye. 14-15 pectoral soft rays; median fins olive; dorsal fins almost separate, 10 spines, 12-13 soft rays, 3 anal fin spines, 11 soft rays. Lateral line complete, 59-77 scales; 7-9 scale rows above lateral line, 14-17 below; no scales on bases of soft dorsal and anal fins; 24-28 caudal peduncle scale rows.
Habitat Quiet, clear to slightly turbid streams, ponds, lakes, and reservoirs, often with vegetation.
Range S. Ontario south through Great Lakes, Mississippi River system, and Coastal Plain from N. North Carolina to Texas and NE. Mexico. Also introduced throughout S. Canada and United States.
Discussion The Largemouth Bass, one of the most highly sought sport fishes in the United States, is caught with live and artificial bait. It is more tolerant of warm water than the Smallmouth Bass, but at higher temperatures it becomes less active. Adults feed primarily on other fishes. The average life span is about 16 years.

 

[olena]

State Marine Mammal

Bottle-nosed Dolphin
Tursiops truncatus


Description To 12' (3.7 m). Robust; back usually dark gray, sides lighter gray, shading to pink or white on belly; individuals vary from albino to nearly black; distinct dark cape often on head and back; old females may have spots on belly. Beak well defined but relatively short; transverse groove between forehead and snout. Dorsal fin near center of back, prominent, broad-based, falcate, tip pointed.
Similar Species Risso's Dolphin (Grampus griseus) has bulbous head with V-shaped crease. Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (Stenella plagiodon) has spots on mature individuals; snout longer. Rough-toothed Dolphin (Steno bredanensis) has long, sloping snout, not clearly separated from forehead.
Habitat Inshore waters including estuaries, shallow bays, waterways, and freshwater rivers; sometimes to edge of continental shelf.
Range In Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Venezuela, including Gulf of Mexico. In Pacific from S. California to tropics.
Discussion The Bottlenosed Dolphin is also known as the Bottlenosed Porpoise, Gray Porpoise, Common Porpoise, and Black Porpoise. The name may be prefixed by "Atlantic" or "Pacific." These dolphins feed on a wide variety of fishes, squids, shrimps, and crabs, and often follow trawlers and other fishing boats to feed on the unwanted fish that are thrown overboard and on organisms stirred up by the nets. They are particularly adept at locating prey using echolocation, that is, projecting a sound beam and listening to the echo. They ride the bow waves of boats and even surf waves. There are many records of wild Bottlenosed Dolphins voluntarily approaching humans closely enough to be touched. While these dolphins do communicate among themselves (as probably all cetaceans do), there is no good evidence that they talk to people.

 

[olena]

State Mammal #1

White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus

Description Size varies greatly; a small to medium-size deer. Tan or reddish brown above in summer; grayish brown in winter. Belly, throat, nose band, eye ring, and inside of ears are white. Tail brown, edged with white above, often with dark stripe down center; white below. Black spots on sides of chin. Buck’s antlers have main beam forward, several unbranched tines behind, and a small brow tine; antler spread to 3' (90 cm). Doe rarely has antlers. Fawn spotted. Ht 27–45" (68–114 cm); L 6' 2"–7' (1.88–2.13 m); T 6–13" (15–33 cm); HF 19–20" (47.5–51.2 cm); Wt male 150–310 lb (68–141 kg), female 90–211 lb (41–96 kg).
Endangered Status Two subspecies of the White-tailed Deer are on the U.S. Endangered Species List. The Key Deer is classified as endangered in Florida, and the Columbian White-tailed Deer is classified as endangered in Washington and Oregon. The Key Deer declined in number as more and more of its habitat in the Florida Keys underwent development throughout the 20th century. Development continues to be a threat to the subspecies today. In 1961 the National Key Deer Refuge was established to protect the deer. The population has risen from a possible low of 25 animals in 1955 to about 250 to 300 today. The Columbian White-tailed Deer once ranged from Puget Sound to southern Oregon, where it lived in floodplain and riverside habitat. The conversion of much of its homeland to agriculture and unrestricted hunting reduced its numbers to a just a few hundred in the early 20th century. It now lives in a few scattered populations, and its numbers have climbed to over 6,000. Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian Whitetail Deer provides critical habitat for these deer in southern Washington.

Similar Species Mule Deer has antlers with both main beams branching; tail tipped with black.
Breeding Reproductive season varies: first 2 weeks in November in north, January or February in south. 1–3 young born after gestation of about 6 1/2 months.
Habitat Farmlands, brushy areas, woods, and suburbs and gardens.
Range Southern half of southern tier of Canadian provinces; most of U.S., except far Southwest.
Discussion Although primarily nocturnal, the White-tailed Deer may be active at any time. It often moves to feeding areas along established trails, then spreads out to feed. The animal usually beds down near dawn, seeking concealing cover. This species is a good swimmer. The winter coat of the northern deer has hollow hair shafts, which fill with air, making the coat so buoyant that it would be difficult for the animal to sink should it become exhausted while swimming. The White-tailed Deer is also a graceful runner, with top speeds to 36 mph (58 km/h), although it flees to nearby cover rather than run great distances. This deer can make vertical leaps of 8 1/2 feet (2.6 m) and horizontal leaps of 30 feet (9 m). The White-tailed Deer grazes on green plants, including aquatic ones in the summer; eats acorns, beechnuts, and other nuts and corn in the fall; and in winter browses on woody vegetation, including the twigs and buds of viburnum, birch, maple, and many conifers. The four-part stomach allows the deer to feed on items that most other mammals cannot eat. It can obtain nutrients directly from the food, as well as nutrients synthesized by microbes in its digestive system. This deer eats 5 to 9 pounds (2.25–4 kg) of food per day and drinks water from rain, snow, dew, or a water source. When nervous, the White-tailed Deer snorts through its nose and stamps its hooves, a telegraphic signal that alerts other nearby deer to danger. If alarmed, the deer raises, or "flags," its tail, exhibiting a large, bright flash of white; this communicates danger to other deer and helps a fawn follow its mother in flight.There are two types of social grouping: the family group of a doe and her young, which remain together for nearly a year (and sometimes longer), and the buck group. The family group usually disbands just before the next birth, though occasionally two sets of offspring are present for short periods. Bucks are more social than does for most of the year, forming buck groups of three to five individuals; the buck group, which constantly changes and disbands shortly before the fall rut, is structured as a dominance hierarchy. Threat displays include stares, lowered ears, and head-up and head-down postures. Attacks involve kicking and, less commonly, rearing and flailing with the forefeet. Bucks and does herd separately most of the year, but in winter they may gather together, or "yard up." As many as 150 deer may herd in a yard. Yarding keeps the trails open through the movement of large groups of animals, and provides protection from predators. The leadership of the yards is matriarchal. Deer may occupy the same home range year after year, and may defend bedding sites, but otherwise are not territorial. The White-tailed Deer is less polygamous than other deer, and a few bucks mate with only one doe. The extended rutting season begins at about the time the male is losing his velvet, which varies with latitude. At this time, bucks are still in buck groups, and sparring for dominance increases. (Sparring consists of two deer trying to push each other backward.) The buck group then breaks up, and several bucks begin following a doe at a distance of 150 feet (50 m) or so. They follow the doe’s scent; the largest buck stays closest to the female. A buck attempts to dominate other bucks and may mate with several does over the breeding season. He produces "buck rubs" and also "scrapes," revisiting them regularly during the rut; glandular secretions are left on the rubs. Does visit the scrapes and urinate in them; bucks then follow the trails of the does. After the mating season, the doe returns to the subherd until spring (May or June in the North; January to March in the deep South). A young doe bred for the first time usually produces one fawn, but thereafter has twins and occasionally triplets if food is abundant. The female remains near the fawns, returning to feed them only once or twice a day. Twin fawns are separated, which serves to protect them. Weaning occurs between one and two and a half months. Fawns stay with the mother into the fall or winter, sometimes for up to two years, but the doe generally drives off her young of the previous year shortly before giving birth. The Whitetail’s first antlers are usually a single spike (the "spikehorn"). A three-year-old would be expected to have eight points, but there can be more or less, as the number of tines is influenced greatly by nutritional factors. A Whitetail’s age is determined not by the number of tines on its horns but by the wear on its teeth.
Once nearly exterminated in much of the Northeast and Midwest, this deer is now more abundant than ever, owing to hunting restrictions and the decline in number of its predators, wolves and the Mountain Lion. It has become the most plentiful game animal in eastern North America and is even something of a pest in many areas, eating garden plants and contributing to the spread of Lyme disease. Thinning the deer population is best done by hunting both does and bucks, as hunting bucks only alters the herd rather than reducing it.
There are two dwarf subspecies of White-tailed Deer: the Coues’ Deer, or Arizona Whitetail (O. v. couesi), of the Arizona desert, and the Key Deer (O. v. clavium) of the Big Pine Key area in the Florida Keys. The Coues’ Deer, which has somewhat enlarged ears and tail relative to the other Whitetails, reaches a maximum of about 100 pounds (45 kg). The tiny, dog-size Key Deer weighs 45-75 pounds (21-34 kg) or less. Some mammalogists classify the Key Deer as a separate species.

 

[olena]

State Insect

Honey Bee
Apis mellifera
Description Male drone 5/8" (15-17 mm); queen 3/4" (18-20 mm); sterile female worker 3/8-5/8" (10-15 mm). Drone more robust with largest compound eyes; queen elongate with smallest compound eyes and larger abdomen; worker smallest. All mostly reddish brown and black with paler, usually orange-yellow rings on abdomen. Head, antennae, legs almost black with short, pale erect hair densest on thorax, least on abdomen. Wings translucent. Pollen basket on hind tibia.
Food Adult drinks nectar and eats honey. Larva feeds on honey and royal jelly, a white paste secreted by workers.
Life Cycle Complex social behavior centers on maintaining queen for full lifespan, usually 2 or 3 years, sometimes up to 5. Queen lays eggs at intervals, producing a colony of 60,000-80,000 workers, which collect, produce, and distribute honey and maintain hive. Workers feed royal jelly to queen continuously and to all larvae for first 3 days; then only queen larvae continue eating royal jelly while other larvae are fed bee bread, a mixture of honey and pollen. By passing food mixed with saliva to one another, members of hive have chemical bond. New queens are produced in late spring and early summer; old queen then departs with a swarm of workers to found new colony. About a day later the first new queen emerges, kills other new queens, and sets out for a few days of orientation flights. In 3-16 days queen again leaves hive to mate, sometimes mating with several drones before returning to hive. Drones die after mating; unmated drones are denied food and die.
Habitat Hives in hollow trees and hives kept by beekeepers. Workers visit flowers of many kinds in meadows, open woods, and gardens.
Range Worldwide.
Discussion Settlers brought the Honey Bee to North America in the 17th century. Today these bees are used to pollinate crops and produce honey. They are frequently seen swarming around tree limbs. Honey Bees are distinguished from bumble bees and bees in other families mostly by wing venation.

 

[olena]

State Flower and Tree

Southern Magnolia
Magnolia grandiflora
Bull Bay

Description One of the most beautiful native trees, evergreen with straight trunk, conical crown, and very fragrant, very large, white flowers.
Height: 60-80' (18-24 m).
Diameter: 2-3' (0.6-0.9 m).
Leaves: evergreen; 5-8" (13-20 cm) long, 2-3" (5-7.5 cm) wide. Oblong or elliptical; thick and firm with edges slightly turned under. Shiny bright green above, pale and with rust-colored hairs beneath. Stout leafstalks with rust-colored hairs.
Bark: dark gray; smooth, becoming furrowed and scaly.
Twigs: covered with rust-colored hairs when young; with ring scars at nodes; ending in buds also covered with rust-colored hairs.
Flowers: 6-8" (15-20 cm) wide; cup-shaped; 3 white sepals and 6 or more petals; very fragrant; solitary at end of twig; in late spring and summer.
Fruit: 3-4" (7.5-10 cm) long; conelike; oblong; pink to brown; covered with rust-colored hairs; composed of many separate short-pointed 2-seeded fruits that split open in early autumn.
Habitat Moist soils of valleys and low uplands with various other hardwoods.
Range E. North Carolina to central Florida and west to E. Texas; to 400' (122 m).
Discussion Planted around the world in warm temperate and subtropical regions, it is a popular ornamental and shade tree, hardy north to Philadelphia. Several horticultural varieties have been developed. Principal uses of the wood are furniture, boxes, cabinetwork, and doors. The dried leaves are used by florists in decorations.

 

[olena]

State Bird

Northern Mockingbird
Mimus polyglottos

Description 9-11" (23-28 cm). Robin-sized. A slender, long-tailed gray bird with white patches on wings and tail.
Voice A long series of musical and grating phrases, each repeated 3 or more times; often imitates other birds and regularly sings at night. Call a harsh chack.
Habitat Residential areas, city parks, farmlands, open country with thickets, and desert brush.
Nesting 3-5 blue-green eggs, spotted with brown, in a bulky cup of sticks and weed stems in a bush or low tree.
Range Breeds from northern California, eastern Nebraska, southern Ontario, and Maritime Canada southward. Winters in southern part of range.
Discussion This bird's beautiful song is richest on warm, moonlit nights in spring, when the bird may spend hours giving amazing imitations of other species. The songs of 36 other species were recognized from the recording of one mockingbird in Massachusetts. Birds in the western part of the species' range have less musical songs and are less imitative. Mockingbirds are strongly territorial and, like a number of other birds, will attack their reflection in a window, hubcap, or mirror, at times with such vigor that they injure or kill themselves. At mating time, the male Northern Mockingbird becomes increasingly exuberant, flashing his wings as he flies up in an aerial display, or singing while flying from one song post to another. After breeding, each parent establishes and vigorously defends its own winter territory. Mockingbirds require open grassy areas for their feeding; thick, thorny, or coniferous shrubs for hiding the nest; and high perches where the male can sing and defend his territory.

 

[olena]

State Shell

Oyster Shell
(Crassostrea virginica)
Description
The Eastern oyster is relatively large, growing up to 10 cm. in length. It is normally somewhat pear-shaped in outline, but members of this species vary greatly in size and shape. The shell is dirty gray externally and white internally, except for the muscle scar, which is deep purple. Oysters usually colonize in beds. Competition for space is a most important source of mortality. Uncrowded, oysters can live to be 20 years old. The beds are a permanent social structure unless they are separated physically and forcefully. Otherwise, the oysters will re-congregate if they are capable.
Shell
Oyster shells are made of calcium carbonate (lime). The oysters must get this lime from the water they live in. They also have a sort of skin, called a mantle, which puts this calcium carbonate on the outside of their bodies to form a protective shell. Oysters must live in water that is temperate (warm all year) and not too cloudy. They grow only in areas where salt and fresh water mix together, like salt marshes. Oysters are born as free-swimming plankton (tiny microscopic organisms). When they grow up, they find a place (on mud, coral, debris, or other oyster shells) to attach and grow. Once they grow their shells, they can’t move around anymore. When the tide is high, oysters are covered by water, but when the tide goes out, they are left sticking up into the dry air. Their shells close tightly together so the animal inside will not dehydrate (dry out) before the tide comes back in.
Diet
After spawning in early spring, the oyster loses a great deal of weight. This event usually coincides with the spring bloom of phytoplankton, their primary food source. Feeding is dependent upon water temperature; more food is consumed at higher temperatures than at lower. Oysters are filter-feeders. They suck in water and filter out the plankton and detritus to swallow. Then they spit the water back out. (Detritus is dead plant and animal matter.)
Reproduction
Reproductive organs can be readily observed only during the breeding season. There is no reproductive activity during the winter. Sexual maturity is a function of size rather than age. The first spawning usually occurs when the oyster is 2 years of age. Fertilization occurs when huge numbers of sperm sperm and eggs are expelled from the male or female and meet in the water.
Pearls
The oyster’s mantle (skin) makes both an outer white crusty shell, and a smooth inner shell. The smooth inner part is called "nacre" or "Mother of Pearl." Sometimes a bit of sand gets inside the oyster’s shell. This is very irritating to the oyster, like getting an eyelash in your eye. So the oyster covers this bit of dirt with shiny smooth Mother of Pearl. It keeps covering the dirt and rolling it around until it doesn’t cause any more irritation. This makes a pearl. The oysters that people eat in north Florida (Eastern oysters) hardly ever make pretty pearls. But there are other kinds of oysters, clams, mussels, conchs, whelks, and even abalone that do make nice pearls. We think of pearls as being round and white, but they are often yellow or black, and many other colors and shapes.

 

[olena]

State Butterfly

Spicebush Swallowtail
Papilio troilus

Description 3 1/2-4 1/2" (89-114 mm). Both sexes black-brown above with cream-white to cream-yellow spots around FW outer margin; HW above black at base, with 1 bright orange spot on costa, 1 on trailing edge. Male HW above is broadly clouded with diffuse but brilliant blue-green (rarely blue) between spots. Series of sharply defined, pale blue-green lunules runs around outer curve of wing. Female bluer above than male; HW has broad cloud of dark green and blue scales and lime-green lunules. Below, HW of both sexes has 2 curved rows of bright orange-red spots (1 around margin; 1 parallel but midwing), enclosing area heavily spotted with blue. 1 rounded black tail on HW.
Similar Species Eastern Black, dark female Western Tiger, and Pipevine swallowtails all lack orange spot on HW costa above.
Life Cycle Pale green egg. Caterpillar, to 1 5/8" (41 mm), is dark green with 2 pairs of yellowish eyespots on front and rear of hump. Winter chrysalis, to 1 1/4" (32 mm), smooth, bark-colored, swollen about wing cases; summer chrysalis may be green. Chief host plants include spicebush (Lindera benzoin), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), and various bays (Persea).
Flight Spring-early autumn; dates and number of broods vary, depending on latitude.
Habitat Woods, forest edges, and pine barrens; also meadows, fields, rights-of-way, along streams, and in gardens.
Range E. North America below S. Canada, becoming more rare westerly; absent from prairies except where wooded, and only rarely reaching High Plains or Rockies.
Discussion A grand and beautiful butterfly, the Spicebush Swallowtail takes nectar from Joe-Pye weed, jewelweed, and honeysuckle. Like black female Tigers, it mimics the Pipevine Swallowtail.

 

[olena]

State Mammal #2

Red Fox
Vulpes vulpes (Vulpes fulva)

Description Rusty reddish above; white underparts, chin, and throat. Long, bushy tail with white tip. Prominent pointed ears. Backs of ears, lower legs, and feet black. Color variations include a black phase (almost completely black), a silver phase (black with silver-tipped hairs), a cross phase (reddish brown with a dark cross across shoulders), and intermediate phases; all have white-tipped tail. Ht 15–16" (38–41 cm); L 35–41" (90–103 cm); T 13 3/4–17" (35–43 cm); HF 5 3/4–7" (14.6–17.8 cm); E 3–3H0 (7.7–8.9 cm); Wt 7 7/8–15 lb (3.6–6.8 kg).
Similar Species All other North American canids lack conspicuously white-tipped tail. Common Gray Fox, often confused with this species, is reddish on backs and outsides of ears, around neck, and on sides of belly, but otherwise is gray and lacks white tail tip.
Breeding Mates January– early March; 1 litter of 1–10 kits born March–May in maternity den; gestation 51–53 days.
Habitat Varied: mixed cultivated and wooded areas, and brushlands.
Range Most of Canada and U.S. except for far north, nw British Columbia, much of w U.S., and s Florida.
Discussion Regarded as the embodiment of cunning, the Red Fox is believed by many field observers merely to be extremely cautious and, like other canids, capable of learning from experience. Even when fairly common, it may be difficult to observe, as it is shy, nervous, and primarily nocturnal (though it may be abroad near dawn or dusk or on dark days). It eats whatever is available, feeding heavily in summer on vegetation, including corn, berries, apples, cherries, grapes, acorns, and grasses, and in winter on birds and mammals, including mice, rabbits, squirrels, and Woodchucks. Invertebrates such as grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, beetles, and crayfish compose about one-fourth of its diet. The hearing of the Red Fox differs from that of most mammals in that it is most sensitive to low-frequency sounds. The fox listens, for example, for the underground digging, gnawing, and rustling of small mammals. When it hears such sounds, it frantically digs into the soil or snow to capture the animal. The Red Fox is cat-like in stalking its prey. It hunts larger quarry, such as rabbits, by moving in as close as possible, then attempting to run the prey down when it bolts. The Red Fox continues to hunt when full, caching excess food under snow, leaves, or soft dirt. It probably finds its caches by memory, aided by smell, although other animals sometimes find them first. An adult fox rarely retires to a den in winter. In the open, it curls into a ball, wrapping its bushy tail about its nose and foot pads, and at times may be completely blanketed with snow. Adults usually are solitary until the mating season, which begins (usually in late January or February) with nocturnal barking. The maternity den is established shortly after mating and abandoned by late August when families disperse. The female usually cleans out extra dens, to be used in case of disturbance, but the same one may be occupied for several years. Upon birth, most pups already show the white tail tip. When about one month old, the young play aboveground and feed on what is brought to them by their parents and sometimes by "helper" foxes, unbred females or female progeny that have not left the territory. Food is given to the first pup that begs for it, and some young may die in years when nourishment is scarce. At first, the mother predigests and regurgitates meat, but soon she brings live prey, enabling the kits to practice killing. Later the young begin to hunt with the parents. The kits disperse at about seven months, males traveling away up to 150 miles (240 km) or more, females usually remaining closer. Adults also disperse, remaining solitary until the next breeding season. The adult Red Fox has few enemies other than humans and the automobile, but rabies, mange, and distemper are also problems. In the mid-18th century, Red Foxes were imported from England and released in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia by landowners who enjoyed hunting them with hounds. The Red Foxes in most of the U.S. are combined strains derived from the interbreeding of imported foxes with native races, which, encouraged by settlement, gradually expanded their range south from Canada. For years, unregulated trapping and bounty payments took a heavy toll on Red Foxes, but the collapse of the fur industry and the abolishment of most bounty payments have improved matters. With poultry farms made nearly predator-proof, farmers kill fewer foxes as well. The Red Fox in the U.S. may be expanding its range, although competition with the Coyote, which is also spreading farther afield, may have a restraining effect.

 

[olena]

State Waterfowl

Wood Duck
Aix sponsa

Description 17-20" (43-51 cm). A beautiful, crested, multicolored duck. Male patterned in iridescent greens, purples, and blues with distinctive white chin patch and face stripes; bill mainly red; tail long. Female grayish with broad white eye ring.
Voice Female, loud wooo-eeek!; male, softer jeee? or ter-weeeee?
Habitat Wooded rivers and ponds; wooded swamps. Visits freshwater marshes in late summer and fall.
Nesting 9-12 whitish or tan eggs in a nest made of down in a natural tree cavity or a man-made nest box, sometimes up to 50' (15 m) off the ground.
Range Breeds from British Columbia south to California, and from Montana east to Nova Scotia and south to Texas and Florida; absent from Rocky Mountains and Great Plains. Winters near Pacific Coast north to Washington, and to New Jersey in East, rarely farther north.
Discussion One of the most beautiful of American waterfowl, the Wood Duck was hunted nearly to extinction during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1918 the hunting season was closed, and for the next two decades numbers rose steadily. There are now well over a million Wood Ducks in North America. The Wood Duck's habit of nesting in cavities enables it to breed in areas lacking suitable ground cover. The young leave the nest soon after hatching, jumping from the nesting cavity to the ground or water. Once out of the nest, they travel through wooded ponds with their mother. Snapping turtles take a heavy toll of the young.

Previous Natural States
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Montana
New Hampshire
New Mexico
New York
Ohio
Oregon
Rhode Island
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Washington
West Virginia


Previous Natural Provinces
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Northwest Territories
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec

 

[Snowwark]

Mississippi has two state mammals? I wonder why? Maybe they're both so plentiful they couldn't decide on one.

I know deer can be a pest for a lot of people, but I enjoy seeing them (at the cottage, and up at DH's parent's place), they're so elegant.

We see the occasional fox up at the cottage also.

The magnolia tree is beautiful!!

Thank you Heather, very interesting!!

 

[nativetxn]

You've outdone yourself, once again, Heather. Thank you for these wonderful posts. I love the photos!