Return home:
Late afternoon storms were brewing, and we were dangerously exposed to
lightning on the escarpment crest, so our day on the ridge was over. We hiked back towards the cars, and on the way we saw this
lovely millipede (Sigmoria sp.)
that was about 5 cm long. I had recently read Thomas Eisner's publications on insect chemical
defenses, and was thrilled to observe that when agitated, this millipede exuded pungent droplets
that smelled for all the world like vanilla extract.
We reached our cars without incident and I had time to play in a damn chilly
stream that was a fine place to rinse off mud and clean the cuts and scrapes I had earned.
The day being complete, we went our separate ways. The next day we planned to reconvene at a different South Carolina
escarpment (a mere 4 km away) to look for Sarracenia jonesii. This escarpment was notable for having
several closely placed S. jonesii populations, and Jim was willing to show me a few that I
did not already know about.
