Washington: Issaquah Rain Forest

In October I met my parents in Washington for a week long vacation.  We stayed near Issaquah in an area so dripping with moisture and so overgrown with vegetation, that I can't call it anything other than a temperate rain forest.  The house we rented backed up to the West Tiger Mountain State Forest and was very secluded.  I was enamored over all the critters I found just in the yard.

The back of the house looked out onto this lovely river that surged after several days of rain.

The back deck and thick trees

I was the only one willing to cross the wooden bridge to the other side.

View of the river from the bridge

Mushrooms in the grass

Close up of a fern

Banana Slug.  This specimen is not the bright yellow I am used to seeing in the slugs around Santa Cruz, CA.

Garden Spider.  This one had a web right by the door, which cheered my spider fearing mother no end. 

Where there is prey there are predators.  This attractive beetle (Scaphinotus angusticollis), which we saw everywhere is called the Snail Killer.  There were certainly plenty of snails to feed on!