♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (Beryl) The leaves have begun their downward drift, there's a definite nip in the air, and the hills are just vibrant with color-- all sure signs that there's fall come to the mountains of the Carolinas.

♪ Hello, I'm Beryl Dakers, and our NatureScene trek today takes us to the northwestern corner of South Carolina, almost on the North and South Carolina borders, to an area called Raven Cliff.

Here we'll look at autumn color, autumn signs and the spectacular Raven Cliff Falls.

Our venture would not be so successful or enlightening were it not for our guide and tutor, Rudy Mancke, who is Natural History Curator of the South Carolina State Museum.

I don't think we could have a more perfect day.

This is a gorgeous day, and the breeze that's blowing, which I feel a little bit, reminds me that autumn is a prelude to colder times to come.

That does affect the plants and animals, and we'll have fun seeing how these plants, and maybe some of the animals that we might come across, react to this change in the weather.

Of course, like you say, this is the most beautiful day that we could have chosen because the colors are just ripe in the Carolina mountains.

This is the time of year to come.

Everybody is fascinated by the colors.

I certainly am, and yet I've never understood why different leaves turn different colors.

There are lots of things involved.

Leaves have diffet pigments in them that are usually masked by chlorop.

When the chlorophyll dies, it uncovers all of those colors that had been there all along.

Certain plants pre of one pigment thr and give you different colors.

It's interesting because one species may have more red in it than another individual in that species.

That's part of thd the beauty of the.

Even though we're going to be going further in a minute, all you need is a parking area likes for the Raven Clif Fall's Trail to see all sorts f interesting thing.

Look at this little, skinny tree coming up over us.

(Beryl) It's got a lot of red pigment.

(Rudy) Look at it!

Look at the red leaves on that.

There's a tree that people here enjoy.

It's known as sourwood.

If you chew the leaves, it is rather a sour taste.

Supposedly, that can keep you from being quite as thirsty.

That's what I've been told.

Look at the color on here.

(Beryl) Look at the fruit this time of year.

(Rudy) Fruit hanging down.

Earlier in the year, there would be white flowers where there is now fruit.

Anyone who likes honey, and I enjoy it, very nutritional, knows about sourwood honey.

The bees come to this tree when the flowers are on, get the nectar and make a very special honey.

Very, very nice.

(Beryl) Bees are not the only ones who seem to be benefiting from this tree.

(Rudy) No, there are other insects.

Just look up at the top, the remnants of fall webworm which were active earlier.

Now they've crawled down to the ground and formed pupae, and they'll overwinter as pupae, hatch out as moths next year.

You can see, no red leaves where the webworm has been because they've eaten those leaves before they had a chance to get bright red.

Let's just ease down this road as we go into the parking area because there are lots of trees that are so typical of the mountains.

A dogwood right here, that one is typical of sloping hillsides.

Here's one that to me says mountains, because you find it all over the place in the Carolina mountains.

Rough, furrowed bark going up and you see the green leaves still in place.

(Beryl) Still very green.

Those leaves will be falling eventually.

Compound leaves.

This is black locust.

(Beryl) I don't understand that name.

(Rudy) Well, it is a dark tree.

When you get a silhouette, the bark is fairly dark, so maybe that's the reason for black locust.

This one is a common tree and doing well in open are, by roadsides, by a parking area, coming up and doing well.

Very hard wood, and the wood is dark when you cut that.

Many people use these things as fence posts, cut the wood up into nice-sized bits and make a fence post, and it does seem to last.

It's pretty resilient to termite damage, too, other insect damage.

(Beryl) One of the most common trees has to be the red maple.

I think everybody thinks of that as a sign of fall.

(Rudy) Appropriately named because usually the leaves will turn bright red in the fall.

Again, doing great all through the Carolinas, but especially beautiful in the mountains this time of year.

The tree right next to it, another skinny one with bright red leaves, is one that's called blackgum, common on the piedmont and in the mountains.

(Beryl) I think that should be red-leaf gum.

(Rudy) It depends on what time of year you see the tree whether the name makes sense, but blackgum is the common name.

You see the tree behind it with green leaves still on and a few turning a little yellow?

That's one of the magnolias known as Fraser magnolia, named after an early botanist.

When you see that tree, you know you're in the mountains because that's so typical of these areas.

(Beryl) What is this tall, skinny tree that only has leaves at the top?

(Rudy) Look at it going straight up very rapidly.

That's the one we call tuliptree, or tulip poplar, or this time of year-- look at the leaves-- yellow poplar is one of the common names that really does make sense.

It, again, like the locust, will come up in an open area and dominate.

It grows very rapidly, straight shot.

(Beryl) It is majestic, just sort of looking out over everything else.

(Rudy) I'm carrying this net because I'm an optimist.

(Beryl) You think there are butterflies out here.

(Rudy) Maybe we'll see animal.

I'm going to find s, one way or another.

(Beryl) The colors attracted u.

Maybe it will do the same for them.

(Rudy) Strolling through the lea, this is going to be a fantastic day.

We'll walk up the hill and across to the main tr.

(Beryl) Okay.

♪ (Rudy) That breeze is still blowing, but it's warm in the sun.

(Beryl) It sure is.

We better cross the road here.

(Rudy) The trail really starts right on the other side.

(Beryl) Speaking of that bre, I think we're going to smell one of your animals here somewhere.

(Rudy) Oh, my goodness!

Look right down here, and that wasn't careful crossing the road, and that looks very fresh.

What is that thing?

Striped skunk, one of the two varieties of skunks that are in the mountains.

The other one is sort of a spotted.

You see the white on the front of the head breaking into the stripe running down the back?

This is the more common of the two, in my experience, anyway.

(Beryl) I don't think I've ever seen a spotted skunk.

(Rudy) Probably killed last night.

See the white between the eyes?

(Beryl) Uh-huh.

(Rudy) You see what else is coming to it.

(Beryl) Those green bottle flies.

(Rudy) Green bottle flies, they come not for the smell that you noticed but for the smell of death.

They're very, very sensitive to that smell.

They're coming to lay eggs.

The eggs will hatch into larvae that will feed on the remains of that striped skunk.

Interesting animal.

Look at the front legs.

See the long claws there?

What do you think they use those long claws for?

(Beryl) I imagine he's a pretty powerful digger.

(Rudy) He is, fantastic digger.

One of the animals he digs up is mice.

This is a great mouser, feeding on lots of small mammals and ripping them out of the ground with those front claws.

(Beryl) If you can stand the scent, he's good to have around the house.

(Rudy) Yeah.

This is one of those animals that are called mustelids.

(Beryl) That's kind of obvious.

(Rudy) A mink is in this group, with an interesting smell about it, and weasels.

Even the river otter, which is sort of a big animal, a very large mammal, is also one of the mustelids.

The back feet don't have those large claws.

A very, very interesting animal.

(Beryl) A beautiful coat.

(Rudy) It looks like it's nice and thick for wintertime too.

That smell is one thing that is so typical about skunks.

I remember a fellow who lived not too far from here who had one as a pet, a real large one, in his house.

(Beryl) And you were one of his few friends.

(Rudy) I visited with him and didn't realize he had it and felt this brush against me, thought it was a big cat, looked down and saw striped skunk.

Interesting animal.

(Beryl) Well, a sad fate, but we've learned a lot about them.

(Rudy) Why don't we look at a few of the plants here before we get started, especially these ferns.

Strange ferns, very common in the mountains here.

See the way the tips of those leaves get narrow?

(Beryl) Mm-hmm.

(Rudy) Then wide in the center.

Then they get narrow again at the base of the leaf.

That one is called a New York fern.

(Beryl) Is that because it's an import?

(Rudy) No, it's native.

One of the reasons I've been told for the name is people in New York burn their candles at both ends.

They're so busy doing everything.

(Beryl) Just a little Southern humor.

(Rudy) That's the way you remember the name.

I have no idea-- maybe it was first discovered in New York state.

It's in the mountains there.

Another tree typical of the mountains, see the skinny one with almost stripes on the bark?

(Beryl) The striated bark.

(Rudy) A few leaves left, and that's silver bell.

Early in the spring, these bell-like, silvery-white flowers hang down and really make this gorgeous.

The mountains to me in spring and autumn are the two times especially nice to see.

(Beryl) It sure is amazing that things look so different depending on the season.

(Rudy) The world changes.

That's nice.

Two and a half miles, let's head toward the falls.

♪ (Beryl) It's nippy up here in the mountains.

(Rudy) Don't you love the way the leaves carpet the path.

Here are some big leaves on one of the wild grapevines.

Look at those.

They're gigantic!

(Beryl) I would like to see the fruit on that tree.

(Rudy) I don't see any.

The fruit on this really does look like the grapes we make wine out of.

Very interesting, nice.

(Beryl) Everything's dying down.

(Rudy) There are a few things, though.

Look at these flowers that are still doing pretty well.

(Beryl) They don't look dead.

(Rudy) One of the plants known as the gentians, and they're flowering in the fall.

(Beryl) Gentians?

(Rudy) Gentian, g-e-n-t-i-a-n.

This is one of the ones called the closed gentian, because it seems to keep the flower all closed up, but very obvious this time of year.

There's another thing you can see in the woods--a couple.

Here's one that's close.

See these long leaves with very sharp, pointed teeth?

(Beryl) Yeah.

(Rudy) That's a puny-looking, little, old tree there, but these are the American chestnuts that used to tower over everything else.

They survive well when they're very small, but the blight which was brought over and wiped out the big ones still is around and wipes out most of the trees when they get to be any good size.

I see one further up that's a little larger.

There are a few that get larger, and maybe a strain will develop that will adjust.

(Beryl) Maybe they'll adapt.

(Rudy) The woods were different in those days because the American chestnut used to dominate the piedmont and mountains.

(Beryl) Amazing, and now it's just sort of a shrub.

(Rudy) Now oaks and hickories are the dominant trees here along with maples.

(Beryl) There's something I like to see.

You know I like critters.

(Rudy) Fuzzy wuzzy there.

(Beryl) That's obvious on that bare branch.

(Rudy) Just barely moving along.

That's one of the dagger moth caterpillars.

You can see some little, black tufts that seem to be longer than everything else.

I guess those resembled daggers.

The moth, the adult of this, has a dagger-shaped marking on the wing, too, but very, very interesting.

The back legs-- prolegs they're called-- look like they're wearing little red booties.

See those things?

(Beryl) Oh, my goodness, yeah.

(Rudy) It's about time for this one to form a little pupa.

(Beryl) So he will make it over the winter?

(Rudy) Oh, yeah, and crawling up a little bit now, but eventually ending up most likely on the ground.

(Beryl) Neat animal!

(Rudy) I'll show you one other thing that's intereting.

You see right up on the hill?

See that group of leaves, nice and green, very obvious.

(Beryl) That's an orchid.

(Rudy) That is the downy rattlesnake plantain orchid.

You see the fruiting stalk coming up?

(Beryl) Yeah.

(Rudy) That's nice.

That's an orchid that you can see and identify on moist, sloping hillsides all over the place this time of year or any other time.

The leaves stay green.

(Beryl) Wow!

(Rudy) The trail leads on.

Let's see what we can find.

(Beryl) There's a lot to see.

[ leaves rustling ] (Beryl) I don't know.

Despite looking at these signs, I still get confused on the tree identification.

(Rudy) You're not the only one.

Don't feel badly.

It gets tough when the leaves fall.

Look at the leaves right here on this tree.

That is the flowering dogwood that we saw earlier.

The leaves look a little different than the leaves on the other one.

It takes some getting used to.

The bark is the way to identify many of these, though, in the fall.

There are three trees right here.

Look at the one with deep furrows on the bark.

Don't look up!

What is that?

(Beryl) In the back?

(Rudy) In the back, what do you think that is?

(Beryl) That's the black loc.

(Rudy) That is black locust, dark bark, and there are other names for it.

(Beryl) Furrowed bark.

(Rudy) Furrowed bark.

Look at this.

This has some little furrows, but relatively smooth, light in color.

What is that tree?

(Beryl) I don't know that because of the name.

I know it because itt have branches sticki, and that's not a good reason to recognize .

(Rudy) It's a fast-growing tree.

(Beryl) It's the tuliptree That's the tuliptree, we saw in the beginning.

or yellow poplar.

This skinny one with the scaly-looking bark is the flowering dogwood, which people are familiar with.

(Beryl) That bark looks like a lot of barks.

(Rudy) It does.

One of the things you have to remember is when you come out into the world of nature, there's a lot to learn.

You can't pick it all up rapidly, and some things you have to see to distinguish.

You cannot read about them or just look at a picture.

And speaking of actually seeing... (Beryl) Oh, things you have .

(Rudy) That is fantastic!

(Beryl) That is a spectacula!

(Rudy) Nature puts together some beautiful pictures for us, doesn't she?

Isn't that fantastic?

That rock outcrop out there, that rock face, is Raven Cliff, named after the large bird that is found in the mountains of South Carolina, the raven.

It looks like a big crow, but it's a different bird, doing quite well on cliffs like that.

Fantastic view!

(Beryl) That's nice.

Let's get over where we can see it.

(Rudy) Sunlight is hitting way on out in the piedmont below us.

We're standing in the mountains looking down at the rather flat piedmont, with a few ridges here and there.

(Beryl) Now I understand thos that go down in the , this, that and the o.

You have to be up here to appreciate i.

(Rudy) Piedmont means foot of the mountains.

Very exciting views.

Oh, I could stand here all day and look at the beauty.

Nature's got lots of interesting things to show us.

(Beryl) Indeed!

(Rudy) We need to slow down and see them, appreciate them a bit.

(Beryl) It's a bit like where earth and heaven meet here.

(Rudy) Yeah, it's great.

It's fantastic, fantastic country!

There is something else over here, and talk about distinguishing things, here's a shrub coming up here.

See the real big buds on it?

(Beryl) Mm-hmm.

(Rudy) What is that thing?

(Beryl) That's a rhododendron.

(Rudy) Rhododendron, and rhododendron has these really big buds on it and leaves shaped like that, as opposed to mountain laurel, which is right here.

The leaves are slightly different, (Beryl) They're similar.

but there are no giant buds.

Maybe that's the easiest way to tell the difference between Rhododendron minus, this one, and Kalmia latifolia, the mountain laurel.

Many folks call both of these laurels.

Many folks call both of them rhododendrons.

You can get confused unless you see it.

(Beryl) That might help, because I thought you could distinguish them because the rhododendron was larger, but it's not true with this variety.

(Rudy) There is a larger-leafed rhododendron here that does very well.

We'll probably see it in a minute.

That's easy to tell from mountain laurel, but this one's a little tougher.

The thing that really ise backbone of these mountas and also underlies the piedmont is this rock material, metamorphic rock, that falls apart, doesn't it?

(Beryl) It looks so sturdy.

Collapses into the soil.

I guess we can probably rub off a little bit of this.

It looks like it weathered.

Look there-- see it moving?

Look at this!

(Beryl) That's eerie, that it looks so substantial but it's quite fragile.

(Rudy) That's a good thing to keep in mind in the mountains, especially on the edges of rock, because these things do peel off and decay slowly but surely.

I think it's always worth reminding oursels that nature is continuy rearranging the world.

Rocks, like the living things around them, can decay too.

(Beryl) Did you see that movement?

(Rudy) I sure do.

Let me see if I can get that garter snake.

(Beryl) Is that what it is?

(Rudy) Oh, yes!

Look at this little thing.

Fantastic!

This is one of those snakes that's typical this time of year because it's one of the last snakes to go into hibernation in the winter, the eastern garter snake.

(Beryl) I'm confused because I always thought garter snakes were those little, green things that I see at home.

(Rudy) That's the rough green snake.

Garter snakes usually have a very distinct stripe down the middle of the back and one stripe down each side.

This one almost has a checkerboard pattern.

(Beryl) It is a beautiful snake.

(Rudy) And this is the checkered phase of the eastern garter snake.

There's also a striped phase, and they're the same species.

This one feeds on frogs, toads, small fish.

It will take other snakes, small snakes, earthworms.

(Beryl) As small as he is, he would eat another snake?

(Rudy) A smaller one, but these animals feed on whatever is available to them.

This is one animal, one snake, that gives birth to live young.

Usually late summer, early fall, the female will give birth to many.

I had one about 3 feet long that gave birth to 30 babies one time.

(Beryl) Oh, my goodness!

(Rudy) These young are ready to go at birth.

They don't need help from parents.

They do quite well.

(Beryl) Not a poisonous snake, but it can bite.

(Rudy) Nonpoisonous snake.

It has teeth and does bite.

Often these larger garter snakes, especially, really do latch on to you, and that creates a problem.

This one is frightened, and I don't want to keep it long.

These snakes are fascinating creatures.

It's too bad that people have problems with them because they're not all that bad once you get to know them.

(Beryl) There he goes!

(Rudy) See the way he slides along, just oozes along there, look at that, right down the trail.

(Beryl) Seeking some security and shelter.

(Rudy) And getting away from us.

We're too large for any of those snakes to eat, so we're enemies, and he slides on away.

That's neat.

I'm glad we saw him.

That was a new experience for me.

I am too.

When you're on the trail this time of year, this is the snake you expect to see, and low and behold, that's exactly what we saw.

(Beryl) What else do you think we're going to see?

(Rudy) Let's see if we can find that large-leafed rhododendron you were talking about.

♪ (Beryl) I'm glad to see that.

I can't believe we're almost to the falls.

(Rudy) Right down the way.

You can hear them a little bit in the distance.

Here is the large-leafed, large-flowered rhododendron.

Rhododendron maximum, perfect name for it.

This one is a very obvious one for identification purposes, so we don't need to linger.

Typical of these mountain coves.

(Beryl) Strikingly green this time of year when almost everythig around it is turning.

(Rudy) All year round.

The fall is right down here.

[ waterfall roaring ] (Rudy) A steep trail.

Look at the little goldenr.

(Beryl) Is that goldenrod?

It doesn't look that familiar.

(Rudy) See the bee takig a bit of nectar from it?

Again, that's important.

Life is ending for that animal, and it's taking h nourishment as i.

One of the fall flowers.

Overlook is down the way.

(Beryl) Let's move on.

It's not as far as it has been.

[ waterfall roaring ] (Beryl) I can't believe we're finally here.

(Rudy) The view is worth the .

(Beryl) It is simply beautiful!

(Rudy) It's a spectacular waterfall any time of the year, and you ought to see it frozen.

(Beryl) Let's get closer where we can actually see it.

(Rudy) Why don't you lead the way.

(Beryl) Okay.

[ waterfall roaring ] (Beryl) This is really n, the decking that makes it convenit for us to see the waterfall.

(Rudy) It hasn't always been this way.

I can remember clearly when this was just rocks, and there was an erosion problem here.

It was a little dangerous for people, so PRT's done a real good job.

(Beryl) The South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department.

(Rudy) There is the best view of Raven Cliff Falls I think you can get.

(Beryl) It's wonderful!

(Rudy) In the winter, it's all icicles, and that is spectacular!

(Beryl) We've got multiple falls sort of cascading off the mountainside.

(Rudy) I think that just adds to the beauty of the thing, and this time of year with all those colors, the reds and the yellows --and the greens, you can see the hemlocks hanging over there, and probably some of those rhododendrons that we were looking at that will stay green year round.

(Beryl) You talked earlier about how rock really erodes, as well as everything else, and when we look at mountain outcrops like that, it's hard to think of it not being there.

(Rudy) I know it.

You figure this is going to be here forever.

As far as our life is concerned, that's true.

But as far as the history of the mountains is concerned, they're wearing down right now, and water does that.

It changes the world, rearranges it all the time.

(Beryl) Even looking over there where the water sort of diverges into separate pathways coming down the mountain, we can see change.

The path is really rather arbitrary, isn't it?

(Rudy) It takes the path of least resistance.

That's the kind of thing that is so typical of water.

Glorious, glorious view!

Lots of people see these things and take photographs.

It's very hard to really capture this with a photograph or on tape.

You've got to come and see a place like this.

(Beryl) Raven Cliff Falls is just simply beautiful.

It's unbelievable!

Both South Carolina and North Carolina seem to be blessed with waterfalls similar to this one of varying degrees, just beautiful natural areas.

It's so important that we protect them, because this is beauty, it's exciting, and we need to be reminded that we're a part of nature.

We're not separate from it.

It's good to get away from manmade structures and see what nature's done.

The other thing is, I feel humble in an area like this.

It makes you realize how insignificant man really is.

We're a part of this world.

We're a very small part in this forest, but we're part of it.

We're affecting it; it's affecting us in a variety of ways.

As someone once said, they walk the hillsides and in every glen find refuge and solace in nature again.

I need that, and I think everybody does.

(Beryl) This is certainly a refuge not only for mankind, but for the plants and animals that live here.

(Rudy) We need to protect places like this, and that's what we want to say to people when Parks, Recreation and Tourism folks, in the Carolinas and elsewhere, protect areas like this, we ought to support them every way we can because they're protecting our world for us, and that's important.

It's not too late.

If you haven't taken that fall trek, I can't think of a nicer place to be than in the mountains of the Carolinas.

Do get out and experience a little nature on your own.

Let's take one more look.

(Beryl) Oh, yeah!

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