While other people showered (cleanliness is for sissies), I went into the backyard to poke around. The stripey anole was still there, but nothing else was about. There was a great squawking in the air and I looked up and saw 5... no, 6... nope... 8... holy crap- there's a dozen birds of prey circling around up there!
Impossible to photograph, but memorable as hell!
So, we went and got my Mom hitched...
The happy couple disappeared shortly after the ceremony, so we changed (though I'd love to herp in a suit someday) and took a short drive to the Croatan National Forest... a place full of wonderfulness.
We were herping from the car, as there is a series of dirt eoads there. When we saw potential good habitat, we pulled over and poked around. It should be noted that the temp was in the mid 60s, but the wind was ripping.
Andrea saw some turtles basking on the bank of a creek so we pulled over and stealthily crept back to the spot. I only got a quick peek before they both slid into the water... nary a photo got taken. They were more than likely River Cooters. Discouraged, we looked around. I saw a shell! I alerted Andrea and we got some pics...
It posed quite well. We were happy. Then I got suspicious so I got a stick and poked it. It was dead. Oh well, judging from the size, it had a long life!
Finding animals proved problematic. We found a few piles of tar paper baking in the sun... perfect for snakes, but all I got as a couple of dozen red ant bites on my hands!
We found one place to pull off where there was a posted map and bathrooms. I dug under a piece of particle board and promptly had my ass handed to me by a medium sized skink! No blue tail, but fast as hell. I just couldn't get a hold of him to photograph, even though he gave me 4 tries!
We walked around the perimeter of the lot and lo and behold... a Green Anole! In the cool weather, he was hardly green... but check out the red and chocolate of this beauty!
I got him to relax and almost fall asleep in my hand!
On the next tree, another guy was jumping around! He gave me a sly look before jumping onto Andrea's coat!
We kept on walking and I heard Andrea exclaim that she'd found another Green Anole!
She put him down on a log and he seemed content to hang there for a while.
I found a mealworm and put it in front of him. Then I caught up with Andrea who had moved on.
On our way back past the log, the anole was still there, but he was licking his chops!! Mealworm lunch!
Then we saw some hopping and found a lovely Southern Toad.
Man... toads are so photogenic!
As he was our last herp of the trip, I'll leave you with a lovely portrait of what I'm sure will be the only Southern Toad of 2011!
Beautiful pictures!! And congratulations to your mum! Love, Martha
ReplyDeleteGracias, Martha! We had a lovely trip!
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