Hobbies And Interests
Eastern Coastal Plain
The eastern plains that gently slope down to the Atlantic Ocean and the Mexican Gulf are characterized by slow water drainage, causing large expanses of marsh land, boggy areas and lakes. The relatively warm average temperature of between 60 and 70 Fahrenheit coupled with a moderate rainfall of 40 to 60 inches per year gives the area its temperate rain forest vegetation. These areas of temperate rain forest are generally populated by large amounts of one species of tree, rather than the myriad of different tree species found in tropical rain forests. Evergreen oaks, laurels and tree ferns are common, as are accumulations of Spanish moss that hang from tree branches at low elevations. Small mammals such as racoons, opossums and flying squirrels are numerous in an area were the largest mammal in most locations is the whitetail deer. American alligators are the area's largest reptiles.
Southern Mixed Forest
With the same average temperature and rainfall of the coastal plains, the silt deposited by the faster-flowing streams of this area provide patches of inceptisol soil, which allow broadleaf, deciduous trees to grow alongside the evergreens. These deciduous specimens include hickory, sweetgum and red maple. The salt marshes that border the west gulf coast are also home to marsh grasses like Spartina. Whitetail deer and racoons abound in the southern forests as well as the eastern plains, but here they are joined by fox squirrels and the more bizarre, nine-banded armadillo. Numerous species of reptiles -- cottonmouth moccasin, copperhead and rat snakes, as well as fench and glass lizards -- also inhabit the area.
Central Appalachian Regions
As the elevation increases so does the rainfall, which ranges from a yearly average of 35 inches in the valleys to 80 inches up on the peak. The temperature, meanwhile, decreases and average annual temperatures for the region range from below 50 degrees Fahrenheit to about 64 degrees Fahrenheit. South-facing slopes are noticeably warmer and drier all year-round, resulting in occasional forest fires in the summer. As far as vegetation is concerned, elevation plays a huge factor; in the valleys, mixed-oak pine forests are supported, with Appalachian oaks on the higher slopes. Higher still, Spruce-fir forest proliferates and meadows exist in the gaps in vegetation. Whitetail deer remain common in the Appalachians, as does the black bear. Twenty-seven species of salamander also inhabit this region.
Great Dismal Swamp
A study, conducted in 2011 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, found that 51 species of animals within Virginia were classed as endangered. Of these species, City Data believes that at least a quarter of them are found in the Great Dismal Swamp in southwestern Virginia. The swamp is now preserved by the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and is home to vegetation such as the Atlantic white-cedar and maple blackgum, mammals such as bats, racoons and mink and reptiles and amphibians including turtles, copperhead and canebrake rattle snakes, frogs and salamanders.