TN Division of Natural Areas

Description: A fall fossorial foray atop Couchville Cedar Glade

Location: TN Division of Natural Areas

The seasonally wetted cedar glades of middle Tennessee have proven particularly important to the conservation of some secretive fossorial beasties! With this hike we will investigate a hidden stream known to provide outstanding breeding habitat for one such creature in a landscape known for temperature extremes – rocky, barren cedar glades. Glades such as Couchville Cedar Glade SNA are popular destinations for aficionados of rare, summer-thriving plants, but they also have a wetter and far colder personality for much of the year when many herbaceous plants are dormant. See a sinking stream come to life in December, when a regular troup of hardy invertebrates occupies a healthy wash ahead of the arrival of the site’s top amphibious carnivore. With any luck we will frequently find phenomenal frolicking fossorial friends feverishly feeding from fervent fissures! With extreme caution our guides will peer beneath our limestone lithosphere to reveal an iconic glade occupant visible only during the ‘dormant’ season!