skunkbear:I spent Thanksgiving in western North Carolina – the home of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ame
skunkbear:I spent Thanksgiving in western North Carolina – the home of the Blue Ridge Mountains, American idol winner Caleb Johnson, and a strange looking creature called the hellbender. It’s the canary in the coal mine for Appalachia’s streams, and Appalachia’s streams aren’t doing so well, so hellbenders are near threatened.I know all this because I watched a beautiful short film all about them and the efforts to keep them safe. It was produced by Freshwaters Illustrated in partnership with the US Forest Service and it is 9 minutes long - definitely worth a watch. -- source link