It's cold. But Herpers gotta herp. 11-10-2013

So, it was supposed to be in the low 50s today. Big deal! Salamanders should still be up! We decided to go to a mountain in Franklin County, one we only scratched the surface of a few months ago. Our goal? Well, to find suitable Spring Salamander habitat. This place just might have it.

We got there at about 11:30 after a massive breakfast at 50s Diner. It was cloudy and cold... we could still see our breath! But, undeterred, we went in and flipped. First up was a plump Redback with an interesting tail tip...

That thing points straight down!

Then Andrea found a big ol' brute of a Redback!

while I got my postcard shot of the day!


Here's a couple more Redbacks...



The streams that we had expected to see flowing weren't flowing at all... just a slow gurgle at best. But we started to see some Two-Lined Salamanders!




I flipped a rock in the water and startled a hibernating Pickerel Frog, a plump fella who simply swam back under the rock after I got this shot.


Another Two-Lined... looks like a male with that Fu-Manchu thing goin' on.


Oops... flipped another Pickerel... go back to sleep, sweetie-pie!


Here's two more Two-Lineds!



Another species we had hoped to see out here were Northern Duskies. We saw plenty earlier in the year but it might just be too cold by now. Plus, the running water we had been looking for wasn't really running. But it was still wet and we finally flipped a Dusky!

That's more like it! We can't get the Dookies at home!


Andrea flipped an adorable Leadback who half-hid in a nut shell!

He also appears to be male.

My Leadback wasn't nearly as shy.


Here's a long, tall Redback.


Andrea went behind a big dirt hill to... look for Wood Frogs... and she saw some nest holes in the mound. It looks as though there had been some successful nests within! She pulled out a handful of empty shells!


While she was doing that, I was back at a stream. I uncovered a hibernating Green Frog this time. His eyes tell the whole story... "I was sleeping. Kindly replace me".


I felt bad that Andrea hadn't seen a frog yet. Luckily for her... not so much for the frog, I roused a young Pickerel from his rest so she could see him.

OK... off you go!

Andrea found this wee, bright Two-Lined next!


Our last animal of the day was this speckled Redback!


But we explored more, finding spots that should be pretty great when the fair weather returns. We didn't find suitable Spring Sal habitat, but we only saw a small portion in our four hours there.




We wound up only seeing one species that we can't see close to home. So, in essence, we drove 2 hours each way to see a Dookie. Was it worth it? Hell yes! 5 species on November 10th! I'm a happy herper!

Oh, and it should be noted that stinging nettle is still around in November and my knuckles are burning still about 8 hours later! YOWWW!