Both of us were feeling sick, but with potential herping days winding down, we set out to Myles Standish National Forest, in hopes of a day of hiking without the usual family riff-raff that pollutes this spot. Plus, we wanted to find some redbells and a hognose or two. The temps were supposed to be in the 70s.
So, feeling crappy, we drove our 50 miles to get there and did a good exploration of Electric Toadland. We talked to a ranger who said it was OK to look around there (nice to know... we weren't sure before). Although we gave the area a good lookin' through, we only saw this one Redback there.
We tried to go to College Pond, where we'd seen many turtles, redbells and a hognose before. It was closed. You couldn't park there ever to poke around. Fuckers. This was shaping up to be a yawnfest.
We settled on our usual walk, where we'd never actually seen anything before. We saw a chipmunk.
We talked to some equestrians who were nice and said they had seen a Green Snake the day before. That makes 3 people this year who have seen Greens without trying, while we (who work our asses off for snakes!) haven't seen any.
Anyway, this day was getting us exercise, but little else. We got a bit grumpy, what with feeling sick and all. Finally, we found two Peepers on the way out.
It helped but upon reflection, Myles Standish has pretty much sucked this year, except for the first visit. Not sure just how much we'll be visiting next year, glimpse of Hognose or not.
October 10, 2011
Andrea had work on Columbus Day. I did not. It was beautiful out. But I waited until she got out and we hit Allendale for a quick stroll. We got there at 5, knowing the sun would be going down soon.
We saw a few Redbacks, but they were difficult to photograph in the waning light. This is the best we could muster.
Down by the pond, this Redtailed Hawk was looking for some dinner.
This large Bullfrog stayed out of sight...
It was very beautiful at the pond...
The sun was setting and we still had a way to go. We started thinking about what lives in these woods. Coyotes and Deer, for sure. Oh... and Toads!
We found this guy while flipping a stone! Third toad this month that we found flipping stones! What a beauty!
No snakes, but a well spent couple of hours. Not bad for a Monday.
October 11, 2011
Bless our friends Kate and Snag. They put up with such shit from me! I dropped off a few things, or picked something up... I don't recall, and they were kind enough to let me flip again. On a Tuesday at 6:30 PM. Chalk up a young Dekays!
Could this lil guy be our last snake of the year? Perhaps...
October 20, 2011
Temps were in the high 60s and, though it had rained for 2 days, I figured a stroll through Allendale was worth a shot. It was pretty windy, too. Here's the spoils...
A big Redback between 2 pieces of wood.
A very cute, little Spotted Salamander.
And a nice speckled Redback.
I saw a Painted Turtle basking on a log in the pond but I scared him in as I tried to get close enough for my crappy camera to work. BLARGH!
I cut the trip short as it was very wet and I was prexing.
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