It’s fall here. The trees are just starting to turn, but last week, something other than a tree rushed to show its color.

This is a Virginia creeper. It’s a common vine on the mountain. In fact, it’s a common vine in about half of North America. Its range covers the entire eastern seaboard, as far west as Colorado, as far south as Texas (at least), and all the eastern Canadian provinces.

One of the most notable features of the Virginia creeper is that it is among the first plants to show fall color. I was driving down Fouche Gap Road last week and saw this brilliant red streak running up the side of a tree. When I took the dogs for a walk down that way, I took this photo. The red had faded by the time I took it, and the vine was bare about a week later.

Another vine is also showing some color.

Poison ivy. Not all that pretty. I have seen some poison ivy turning red as well.

The maples and sweetgums are beginning to turn, but the oaks haven’t really started yet.

Another sign of fall is dead deer dumped on the side of the road. I noticed a plastic garbage bag lying beside the road a couple of weeks ago. I thought it had fallen from the back of a pickup truck on its way to the county garbage transfer station; that happens sometimes. But when I nudged it with my shoe, I realized it was too heavy for garbage. I figured it was almost certainly something dead. I did not investigate further because I didn’t really want to know. I hope it’s only a deer.

The plastic protected whatever it was for longer than I expected, but by Wednesday, the sharp senses of the vultures had led them to it. They had torn the bag open, and the smell was not pleasant.

Zoe went crazy when she saw the vultures. In her opinion, they were not supposed to be there. The birds flew up into the trees. They are hard to see in this shot.

Here is a closer view of the birds.

They waited till we passed, then returned to their business. I was hoping they would find whatever is in the bag, because that’s the only way it was going to be cleaned up.