Mistiming the Magic Tree. 9-12-2025

We'd planned on a visit to the Rat Snake tree in Worcester County last weekend but my dreadful planning made it impossible so instead, we headed over on Friday, September 12th and got there reasonably early. We figured that this is the best time of year to see new baby Rat Snakes. And we'd have been right if only one was present.

We did, however, we a bunch of skins all over the (off limits) tree, some massive ones and a half dozen 8-9 inchers. Babies have already had their first shed and the proof was all around the tree. There must be dozens of super clean Rat Snakes around. Sadly, we never did see one.

We had much better luck with Pickerel Frogs, definitely the most seen species of Andrea's vacation thus far.

This was our first Peeper of the week, though.

This Tree Cricket (Oecanthus) kept hopping onto Andrea's pants. Perv.

Remember when we were in Western Mass and we saw just one Eft? We made up for it this day. The heavy rains of the previous week brought a bunch of them down from the hills and we got our fix.

Strange bedfellows.

A very successful Redback flip. Triplets!

Red and Lead!

I'm pretty sure we've photographed this fat black American Toad before. He's the size of a baseball. And the shape of one.

Feel free to use this perfect example of an American Toad for help in differentiating between Fowler's and Americans... the postorbital ridge touches the partoid gland with just a little ridge as opposed to being flush up against it. You're welcome.

A young Painter was basking on a perch in the lake. Little guy... about 4" carapace.

Somebody, probably a raccoon, had enjoyed a freshwater bivalve buffet.

We ended the day with a few more Painted Turtles.

So, we visited the tree numerous times while we were there and saw no snakes, nor did we see any in our usual flipping spots. But it's all good because we talked to Sam, the ranger that works there and has taken an interest in the storm drain that we brought to her attention. She fished twelve Snaplings out of there this week. We peeked in and it was animal-free! We gave her a finer mesh screen to use and while we were driving off, she was already installing it!

We talked to the guy in charge about the Magic Tree and they are not going to save it. He said that if the park was not there, the tree would fall anyway and they have noted new places that the snakes have moved in to. Bittersweet for us because the tree was so easy and it will suck to not have it there anymore. (Search Magic Tree... you'll see.) But yay on the snakes doing what they should be doing. We'll certainly see them again. We might even make one more trip out to look for them this year. Gas prices willing.

Milk Milk Lemonade 9-11-2025

Andrea's vacation was still in full bloom so, after a day off, we headed out to Bristol County for what was supposed to be a beautiful day. Mid-70s and sunny! Well, we got to the Wildlife Refuge fairly early and the sun hadn't yet warmed up the Garden yet but the first flip was quite successful with our first Milk since May 26th (when we'd seen 3, and 2 the day before!). It was in-the-blue.

The Garden was also home to this American Toad who popped out before I even peeked under the rock.

We walked down to the river, hoping that some turtles were up and basking. They sure were! Painted Turtles a'plenty.

Even though this place can be sketchy at times, it still holds one of my favorite spots in the world where you can get down to the river and see nothing but nature. It may have some grains of my ashes in the future. A small Pickerel was there and he hopped into the water but didn't hide.

Walking up the secluded path, a shoestring Garter darted out of the way and we corralled it into Andrea's hat for a photo.

Redbacks had been scarce for a while in the Summer (they usually are) but are back now, much to my delight. Here is a Red and a Lead.

This one was humorous... I peeled back some bark on a fallen tree and this Redback slid out and fell, but caught himself on a mushroom.

Under an off trail car hood, we found this snoozing Milk. As tempting as it was, we didn't handle it and it never woke up. Never even knew we were there.

I must say, the day was going quite well. It got even better when I spied a hidden Garter in a bush and actually managed to get the shot.

We got to the waterfall, pretty much our halfway turn-around spot, and saw some distant Painters posting for a Greatest Hits album cover!

Back into the woods, we kept an eye out for Snappers in the swampy water next to the path. We always want to see Snappers. We didn't see any, but there is always art to see in nature, like this dead tree hosting some mushrooms in the Xeromphalina family. (Thanks, Jef!!)

We got to a trickling brook that is pretty fun sometimes and a Pickerel hopped into the drink and hid from my camera.

We'd mentioned Wood Frogs earlier in the hike, wondering when our last one was. It's fitting, then, that we saw this newly metamorphed Woodie next to the stream.

Going back up to the trail, we saw this messy sight. Thanks again to Jef, we now know it is a Puffball in Aspic (Calostoma cinnabarinum), a mushroom that sheds jelly chunks of itself!

We got a chance to sit for a bit, but a family came by and some kids noticed a frog hopping around. It was a good sized Pickerel that I tried to catch to show the kids but it bested me and hopped into the river. He "hid" under a leaf which was fine... everyone got to see it and it stayed safe from grubby hands (including my own).

Walking back toward the front, a large American Toad distracted us. Quite a beauty.

A log flip shortly after that revealed a small, dark American Toad sharing the underside with a Wooly Bully.

Back through the Garden on the way out, a Katydid caught our eyes.

A rock flip and I saw another wee shoestring Garter. They are incredibly fragile so I scooped up a whole handful of leaves with it and we quickly got this shot before sending it home.

One last path before we hit the parking lot, almost done. What are the odds that we'd see two more Wood Frogs on the way out? The second was comparatively large. 

We had our 7 species and were feeling like it was a pretty good day but we were a little sad that we'd seen no shoestring Water Snakes or Snaplings. But still, a pretty darn good hike. We got some pizza and then decided to drive a few miles over to Plymouth County and check out the old Mill which is good for Musk and Snapping Turtles as well as Water Snakes.

Well, we struck out on any turtles but while walking along the river, we looked down and saw this massive Nerodia gal catching some warm sunlight. Well over 3 feet easily.

This smaller Water Snake was up basking as well until I tried to get a photo, at which point it slid into the drink but it didn't stray too far.

We were satisfied and tired and decided to head home instead of going anywhere else. I had practice in a couple of hours anyway. On the way to the car, this Pickerel hopped up and bid us a fond farewell.

That was a pretty fine day in the field.

I drank some lemonade at practice.

Vacation in Plymouth County. Sept. 8th and 9th, 2025

Hey, look. Andrea has the week off. I have everything off. The weather was supposed to be "fabulous" all week so we made our plans. We'd failed to get into the field over the weekend (me messing up, then weather) so we planned on doing our usually fruitless hunt for Hognose Snakes in a Plymouth County State Forest on Monday. We got there at around 11 AM and as soon as we stepped out of the car, I said, "I don't think we'll see any snakes today." Pessimist? No, it's just that it was cloudy, breezy and about 63°

We went to the bogs first and the first thing we saw was a 2 1/2" carapace up on the moss. I feared that it might be dead but I picked it up and it went even further into it's shell. Alive and unhappy. We let it be.

Bullfrogs are always an easy sight here and happily, it held true on this day.

Fowler's Toads were plentiful. We flipped 'em, we saw 'em hopping by... they were everywhere.

What did I say about Bullfrogs? Lots of them.

We tried out a newer-to-us path that produced a Hog last year. No, no Hogs but Andrea flipped a log that had a Fowler's and a Mole Cricket under it. I had never seen the likes of the Mole Cricket before. Very strange and cool.

We did our usual Hog-walk after that, 2+ miles of seeing absolutely nothing. Not surprising but very defeating. If we'd have seen a Garter while trying for Hogs, it would be awesome. Seeing nothing just drags you down. Our last spot was the Visitor's Center where one Painter was basking with clouds in the sky.

That was all we could muster in almost six miles of hiking. Certainly not a record day but it's better than not trying at all. We may try one more time later in the month or October but at this point, I don't really care anymore. I'd rather see stuff.

The next day was supposed to be sunnier but still not warmer than 70° at best. We figured we'd try for shoestrings and walking pebbles again at the turtliest place we know, again in Plymouth County. We headed out and, once again, got to our destination at about 11 AM. With the nights getting so cold these days (the seasons really changed quickly this year) we're not worried about missing early birds. Or snakes or turtles.

It's nice hitting these places on weekdays. Tuesdays seem nice and quiet. We didn't take the usual path in, figuring the Spotted Turtle bog would be dry. Some parts looked low, some parts looked normal. Who knows if we made the right choice? We saw no Spotteds. We did, however, see some Bullfrogs.

Andrea had this Pickerel Frog hop in front of her.

Of course, with the season coming to the end, Painted Turtles are all trying to get in the last minute rays so we knew we'd see hundreds of Painters. And we did. I missed dozens of shots before getting any but I knew I'd wind up with dozens of good ones by the end. And I did.

Well what do you know, an honest to goodness snake. A Water Snake, looking like a stick.

The first Green Frog that we'd seen in a while.

Some more Bullies.

Another patch of Painted Turtles.

Be still my heart... an actual Garter Snake with something in its belly.

Andrea saw another Water Snake that I had walked past. I thought it was a stick.

At the main pond, we'd expected to see loads of Painted Turtles. And we did.

Turtle clusters were everywhere! This one even has a Redbelly over on the right side.

The Water Snake baking rock had a big girl in the grass next to it. I couldn't get a shot and Andrea couldn't see her so I made a catch. A few little nips... that's OK, but she musked me into the next county and as you know, Nerodia musk has some serious staying power. Worth it. She's a cutie! Look at her anger-nape!

Also at that rock, Andrea noticed a European Praying Mantis who seems ready to pop out her ootheca. Big belly!

I didn't realize that the egg sacs over-wintered. Interesting.

Working our way out, another Pickerel hopped into my path.

Another mixed chorus line... Redbelly far left with a pair of Painters.

Andrea found this massive Water Snake in the drink. Over 3 feet, easily. Gorgeous.

Speaking of Water Snakes, if you look closely, you'll see a photo-bomb in this Painter portrait. In the lower left corner is a massive Nerodia noggin.

How are those tannins working out for you, Painty old boy?

Last chance at the flippin' rocks. They were in the sun and very warm. The one in the shade had a Pickerel under it, of all things.

That was it. We had seven species, back to our usual number! Over six miles hiked and we weren't fatigued. I feel this was a good day but it was a Snapling short of being a very good day. We'd searched long and hard for walking pebbles but saw none. No shoestrings, either. But it was nice to finally see some snakes and a plethora of Painters. In a few weeks, everything will be gone.

But Andrea is still on vacation. We're taking a breather today (Wednesday) but plan on hitting some more trails in the upcoming days.