Georgia Magazine - November 2021 - 4

MailBOX Comments from our readers * Compiled by Jennifer J. Hewett
Snakes alive!
Citizen-science projects collect information
about two Georgia species
By Amber Lanier Nagle
L
ast year, Roswell resident Ginny Tunnell
decided to make a concerted effort to
learn more about snakes and the natural world.
Shortly thereafter, her next-door neighbor spotted
a kingsnake in their neighborhood. Tunnell
snapped a photo and posted it to one of the
many snake-identification groups on Facebook.
" Bryan [Hudson] saw the post and reached
out to us, " Tunnell says. " He told us about the
Urban Kings project and asked if he could come
out and monitor the snake, and we agreed. "
Urban Kings is a metro Atlanta citizenscience
project designed to study the habits and
survival of Eastern kingsnakes in urban environments.
The project's Facebook page showcases
dozens of adults and kids around Atlanta posing
with the kingsnakes they've encountered.
Hudson, an ecologist affiliated with the
some rocks.
Georgia
Celebrating the Georgia lifestyle
®
MAGAZINE
project, drove to Tunnell's neighborhood, crawled
around and gently pulled the kingsnake out of
" By that time, a crowd of neighbors had
gathered to watch, " Tunnell says. " He verified that
Slytherin. Then he took her away. "
and tracked her.
After fitting Scooter with a tracking device, Hudson brought her back
it was an Eastern kingsnake and told us all about
[it]. The neighborhood children named her Scooter
" It was amazing to see where she went-under porches, down stairs,
near a creek, " Tunnell says. " At one point, Scooter was attacked by a dog.
MAGAZINE
Thankfully, she recovered. "
and released her exactly where she was found. Then he came out every day
Though the Urban Kings project is slated to end this year, organizers
continue to encourage Georgians to assist in collecting and sharing
valuable data without disturbing or harming these fascinating creatures.
Each kingsnake sighting is logged into a master database and reviewed by a
trained herpetologist.
Hands-on
afraid of snakes. "
20 Georgia Magazine September 2021
20-22_Snakes_0921.indd 20
" I'm happy that our neighborhood could help with the project, "
Tunnell says. " We learned so much, and most of all it has helped us not be
learning
Children's museums
in Georgia
page 34
Georgia
Georgia
Celebrating the Georgia lifestyle
Clemson University graduate student Bryan Hudson inspects an adult pine snake
found in North Georgia.
®
Urban Kings
Hudson, a doctoral student in forestry and
environmental conservation at Clemson University
in Clemson, S.C., and his small team are in charge of
the Urban Kings project.
" I spent most of my childhood exploring the
woods across North Georgia, " he says. " I developed a
fascination with snakes. I mean, how do you survive
in the wild without arms or legs? "
He says the Urban Kings project is dedicated to
Celebrating the Georgia lifestyle
answering the question: How does development
affect mobility-restricted wildlife? The group hopes
the results will help future urban planners accommodate
both people and wildlife.
®
8/11/21 11:36 AM
MAGAZINE
www.georgiamagazine.org
01_Cover_D_0921.indd 1
publication!
-Bob Bennett, Villa Rica
I was excited to see the wonderful article " Snakes alive! " [see September 2021,
page 20; bit.ly/snakes921]. I have had the good fortune to be one of the few people to
see a pine snake in Banks County.
It is great to see that even kids in urban areas can learn about the snakes in their
neighborhoods. Kudos to Bryan Hudson [an ecologist affiliated with the Urban Kings
and Project Pine Snake citizen-science projects] and his team for their wonderful work!
-Shelia Neave, via email
Thank you for your entertaining and informative magazine!
-Jeanette DeLuca, Marietta
Thank you for all the hard work in putting Georgia Magazine together each
month! I always enjoy reading it!
-Rhonda Padgett, Rocky Face
My GEORGIA
By Christopher D. Walter
Opening ceremony
at a Western-wear store
T
here is a Western-wear store on the outskirts
of Snellville, near where I live. It's called
Western Wear World or something like that,
and it's the kind of place where you can get cowboy
boots; shirts with embroidered roosters on the back;
blue jeans so starched they take your leg hair off; and
saddles. I would like to think this place is a relic from
when this was all farmland, but its proximity to a
major highway and an older shopping center makes
me doubt it. They do have an actual hitching post if
you were to take your horse down the four-lane and
happen to want to buy a cowboy hat.
I happened to be parked in the shopping center
next to this establishment. I had just finished picking
up a few items from the nearby grocery store, including
a frozen pizza for lunch and a pack of envelopes.
Something caught my eye, and I looked over toward
Western Wear World to see a man and a woman come
out the front double door at the same time, side by
side. They were wearing Western clothes, but I'm
going to go out on a limb and guess they would just
call them " clothes. "
In their arms, they held three American flags
on wooden poles. They solemnly marched through
their parking lot to a grassy area in front of the building
and, one by one, planted the poles in concrete
holes in the ground. Each time they placed a flag in
the ground, they stopped for a moment and either
meditated or prayed briefly, all the while making sure
the other flags did not touch the ground. When they
planted the last flag, they turned and walked back
into the building, closed the doors and turned on the
" open " sign.
When all this started happening, I noticed that
the clock said 10 a.m. on the dot. I also noticed that
the sign displaying the business hours showed that
the store opens at 10 a.m. The part that really struck
me about this was that there was no way this could
have been a coincidental display. I am guessing this
was part of their job, which they obviously did every
single morning because, even though they were not in
lockstep, they were in near-perfect unison.
Watching these two suburban cowpokes take this
display so seriously really struck something in me.
The 'wonderfulness' of Christopher
D. Walter
I don't know where you found Christopher D. Walter,
but thank goodness you did. [See " Opening ceremony at a
Western-wear store, " My Georgia, July 2021, page 33;
bit.ly/ocww721.]
CHRISTOPHER D. WALTER
That was the most serious thing they were going to do all day
long. They knew it, and they were fine with that. The rest of the
day would be spent ringing up lasso ropes and handkerchiefs
and returning defective spurs. Whenever they got down, they
could look out the double doors and see the flags flying and
know they had a choice to be there.
I would not call myself a patriotic person, but I am thankful
I got to see the opening ceremony at Western Wear World. With
all the strife that we've been through politically, I've become
exhausted and numb. I've lost touch with what it means to be a
citizen of this great country. I don't really care what side of the
political fence you come down on. It doesn't matter. As cliché as
it sounds, what matters is that we are all under the same flag.
I am grateful that I wanted a frozen pizza for lunch and
needed some envelopes. If I didn't, I probably wouldn't have
observed the most serious part of these employees' day. That
seriousness makes me truly appreciate that I live in a country
where the worst part of my day is burning the roof of my mouth
on that pizza and cutting my finger mailing letters. And that
kind of freedom is something to be serious about.
Christopher D. Walter is an artist and writer who lives in
Lawrenceville and is a member of Monroe-based Walton Electric
Membership Corp. His book, " Southern Glitter, " contains essays
about life in the South and is available at his website,
kudzuandclay.com.
www.georgiamagazine.org
33_My_GA_0721.indd 33
33
6/10/21 9:55 PM
hope you continue to have him in your magazine.
Thank you for finding him and bringing him to our attention. My sides hurt
from all the laughing. I bought five copies of his book, and they will be my gift of choice
for a while.
-Lee Boutwell, via email
Share your thoughts. Email us at magazine@georgiaemc.com. Please include your name, address
and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity and space.
4 Georgia Magazine November 2021
I haven't laughed so hard since this miserable
pandemic came to town. I went to his website and read
everything on there, which is full of his wonderful,
wonderful way of looking at the world as it is, God help us.
No politics or snarky judgments-just honest-to-God
humor coming from memory and observation. I certainly
Pollinator census
page 16
Tracking earthquakes
page 28
SEPTEMBER 2021
Super September issue!
The September 2021 issue is
beyond fantastic! [See bit.ly/gmg0921.]
I teach third through fifth grade
students in Pike County and was hoping
to get some extra copies for a lesson or
two (or five).
We study pollinators, solar power,
Snakes alive!
page 20
Protecting our
state's waterways
page 32
Georgia habitat zones, ticks, disaster
plans with the Red Cross, conserving
energy, wetland pollutants and ecosystems,
earthquakes and agricultural crops,
and we also classify snakes-just to name a few topics
covered in your September magazine.
8/9/21 3:42 PM
-Mandi Wood, science lab teacher, Pike County Elementary School, Zebulon
Your magazine has many useful and entertaining articles. Thanks for the
From THE EDITOR
Georgia long has been known as a
top state for business development. But
while big business may dominate the
news stories, it's small business that
drives our state's economy.
According to the Small Business
Administration's 2020 report, there are
more than 1 million small businesses in
Georgia, and in this issue we salute
some of these artisans and entrepreneurs
with our annual guide to Georgia
products.
To find out more about the
creativity and artistry these companies
bring to the table, read " Gifts for the
season, " starting on page 16, and
remember to " shop small " on Small
Business Saturday, coming up on
Nov. 27.
In November we also remember
our nation's veterans, and in this issue
we tell the story of hippotherapy
programs that are dedicated to helping
veterans and others of all ages and
backgrounds recover, grow and move
forward.
Turn to " The healing power of
horses, " starting on page 22, to learn
how The PEACH Pit in Fort Valley and
Beyond Limits Therapeutic Riding in
Cartersville are helping their clients
bounce back from addiction, disability
and trauma via equine-assisted therapy.
While animals can help people
recover from trauma and abuse, it's
people who are helping animals at The
Flawed Dog in Cochran and Frankie
and Andy's Place in Winder, two
shelters dedicated to helping homeless
senior dogs.
These dogs are abandoned by
their owners because of physical issues,
changes in the owners' living situations
or the owners' unwillingness to take
care of old or sick animals. Read " The
golden oldies, " starting on page 26, to
learn how these organizations are trying
to provide a better future for senior
canines and why you should consider
an " oldie but a goodie " the next time
you adopt a dog.
Enjoy!
Laurel George
Editor
GEMC
GEMC
GEMC
SAMANTHA KENNETT
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http://www.bit.ly/gmg0921 http://www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.bit.ly/snakes921 http://www.bit.ly/ocww721

Georgia Magazine - November 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - November 2021