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!


Both of these guys were the size of Cornish Game Hens.

We saw this hoppy American Toad soon after...


Next up, we saw a Pickerel that looked a bit odd... Andrea made sure to get a pic before he disappeared, which he did.



A few more toads turned up...


This guy was puffing his throat for Andrea... I think he kinda liked her...


Redbacks are still mostly in hiding, but not this guy!


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!


The things one learns...

Howza 'bout a fairly large Green Frog?


And some basking Painted Turtles!



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!


I was actually able to coax him into reach with the snake stick and grabbed him for close-ups!

Pretty decent sized and a real sweetheart... no nips or musk!



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!

He slithered over the concrete partition and started slowly swimming downstream.


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.

Look at those reds!!


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:

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!



She let me hold them! It looked like a Medic Alert sign gone awry!



"Ha-cha-cha-cha-cha- I got a million of 'em"


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*