You just can't take us anywhere! (June 19th and 25th, 2011)

So there we were, the day after that great trip to Massasoit and it was Father's Day, June 19th... a day to spend with family. So, we visited Andrea's Dad and were hanging out. Andrea suddenly got the need to herp. She'd seen little brown snakes and salamanders in her folks' yard as a child, so she went out to dig... and found this petite Redback Salamander!


So, on the way home (at 7 PM) we decided to take a quick walk to the ponds in the Arboretum before the sun went down. In that half hour we saw some Bullfrogs and a wee Painted Turtle who was foraging.




It just felt nice to see some herps with little to no effort!

The next weekend, we went to our pal Jeff Taylor's housewarming party! He has a lovely house with a huge yard! Unable to resist, I kept my eyes on a stone wall that he had said has some Garter Snakes every once in a while. Bingo! I saw this!


So I grabbed him. He musked me badly and got all flat and threatening, but was a good guy overall! Decent sized, as well!



Jef, a good friend to all animals, has a superb nature blog called The Urban Pantheist, which everyone should check out!

So, if we seem distracted at parties or family gatherings, we're probably just keeping our eyes peeled for herps!