Friends of Little Rocky Run - Virtual Tour of Watershed, Page 8, 3rd Creek Crossing to the Deepwood Farms Tributary, Cont.

The stream makes an S-curve towards the West upstream from the island area.  The photo immediately below shows the upper portion of this S-surve.  The pool shown in the photo to the right is just upstream from there.  A 10 pound snapping turtle was once observed walking upstream through the rocks above the pool.  There aren't many snappers in Little Rocky Run.  Be aware that they have a dangerous bite and are not to be trifled with.  Unfortunately for snappers, they are said to be very good to eat.  (See also "Turtles of Virginia").  Likewise, copperhead snakes have been seen in this area. Copperheads have a nasty venomous bite that can take months to heal, but is almost never fatal.  (See also "Snakes of Virginia.") The below right photo is a close-up view of one of the riffles in the rapids in the photo above right.  All of the pictures on this page were taken from a downstream location.

The two photos below continue the tour upstream.  The one on the left shows a stretch of rapids.  At the upper part of the photo, you can see where lawns have been extended across public property to the edge of the creek.  The photo below right shows an extreme example of this.  While it makes for a perfectly manicured backyard, this kind of landscaping is also an outstanding example of riparian buffer destruction.  (Note: Virginia has a tax credit available for people who timber their property but leave a riparian buffer.  This isn't relevant here, because landscaping has been done on public property, but is worth mentioning).

The below photos show additional views of the riparian buffer intrusions in this section of Little Rocky Run.  Some homeowners even dump their yard clippings into the rocks shown below left.

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Photos on this page shot in November 2002.