Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The things you learn in Borderland... 8-25-2012

Since Borderland got rained out the previous week, we were all excited to get there nice and early on this pleasant Saturday. Well, more like by 8:30. When we pulled in, we noticed many balloons and signs... there was a charity run going on. I applaud folks who do this, so I couldn't gripe about the runners speeding past us as we looked for herps.

Still, they weren't running in the water, so the first things we saw were a couple of massive Bullfrogs!
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Both of these guys were the size of Cornish Game Hens.

We saw this hoppy American Toad soon after...
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Next up, we saw a Pickerel that looked a bit odd... Andrea made sure to get a pic before he disappeared, which he did.
Leopard Frog! Yay! It's about time!


A few more toads turned up...
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This guy was puffing his throat for Andrea... I think he kinda liked her...
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Redbacks are still mostly in hiding, but not this guy!
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I had this guy on my arm... I thought it might be a Walking Stick nymph but artist/ great guy/ theremin player/ insect-victim Steve Blickenstaff informed me that it's a nymph Assassin Bug!
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The things one learns...

Howza 'bout a fairly large Green Frog?
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And some basking Painted Turtles!
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All this time and no snakes! Wait... what was that little commotion under the water there... keep watching... oop! It's a Water Snake noggin!
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I was actually able to coax him into reach with the snake stick and grabbed him for close-ups!
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Pretty decent sized and a real sweetheart... no nips or musk!
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We went over to our place of triumph from the last trip here and saw no snakes. As we sat there, Andrea said "if we just sit here long enough, I bet a snake will show up." The sentence was barely out of her mouth when... a snake showed up!
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He slithered over the concrete partition and started slowly swimming downstream.
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His bright reds had me very interested in getting a closer look so I went to a clearing in the stream and positioned myself. I could see him coming right at me. It was very cute. To make a baseball analogy, I had the ball and was waiting for him as he tried to steal home! He came right into my hands! He gave a quick nip to my finger and musked a bit, but then calmed down nicely.
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Look at those reds!!
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Well, we were very happy and we started to leave. I said "Wouldn't a Garter make this trip awesome?" I was a few yards ahead when I heard Andrea say. "G- holy shi- OWWWW!" I turned around and saw this:
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She had found two feisty, bitey Garters half buried in leaves and made the Two-Fisted Garter Grab™! She then began to display her lasso talents!
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She let me hold them! It looked like a Medic Alert sign gone awry!
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"Ha-cha-cha-cha-cha- I got a million of 'em"
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So, like before, Borderland helped us make a memorable exit! Both of us were laughing about our snake blossoms and were eager to triple-wash our musk-infested hands!

It should be noted that this whole trip was done while we were both sick... probably with Bronchitis! We be hard core! *pumps fist*

2 comments:

  1. I need more bites. Those bite marks faded fast.

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    Replies
    1. You need deeper, more serious bites! We'll get you some Copperheads to play with!

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