We got to our destination by 11 AM and we had plenty of time to look around before hitching up with friends. This Garter Snake knew we were on a fairly tight schedule so she was right there next to the parking area, getting us warmed up as she warmed herself up.
Ah, Plethodon cinerus... so common but always so interesting. We flipped these three in a row; a Leadback, normal Redback and a Burgundyback.
The salamander has a burgundy back, it's a Rip Off, such a Rip Off! Do it again!
Another 2+ feet of Garter perfection.
This is right around where we started declaring these the most beautiful Garters in the state, the Cape be damned!
We got to a pond edge and poked around the rocks where the water had receded. It was also a good place to sit down since I was Prexxing. I flipped a confused pair of White-footed Mice.
We found a Nerodia skin that we really wanted to see the former owner of.
Sitting down for a bit, I got a pretty decent shot of a Greater Yellowlegs, #81 on the year.
We were sitting down with a flipped Nerodia, certainly not the one whose shed we'd found.
This guy has an interesting battle scar, an inch below the vent.
Believe me, if something grabbed him there and he blew some musk on it, they let go fast. This guy musked us into next month and it stunk!
This was what we looked at as we sat there. You can see a few Yellowlegs in the shallow edge.
We started back onto the trail but Andrea had to go look for Wood Frogs so I took a slow stroll up the hill and sat on a stump next to this gal.
We just hung out for a bit. She's a good friend now.
Back on the trail together, Andrea and I saw another perfect Garter slither behind a tree. I managed a quick photo.
The pond was surprisingly frogless, much to my chagrin. Turtles were tough to find too, but we finally did, though these duckweed covered Painters weren't very easy to see.
We got to another pond area, Andrea stayed high and I worked down by the water. No sooner had I said "you know, we haven't seen anything over here in two years" then I looked down and saw this stunning sirtalis at the water's edge.
It was chilly in this shaded spot and she wasn't moving. I went to nudge her and she showed me she was very much alive.
Heading back past the duckweed pond, we saw a few more Painted Turtles up.
The above two are obviously not on speaking terms but it looks like a mediator is coming up between them to help sort things out.
Our last goal was a powerline cut that has been very good for Garters and Waters and we suspect is a den area. There's gotta be Racers up there, too. Walking past a dried up vernal, Andrea commented how we'd never seen a Spotted Salamander or a Wood Frog in this place. Our next flip?
Like the Milk Snake the day before, this was our "holy shit" moment for this Saturday.
The view up on the cut was better than our snake-finding luck. We saw zero animals but it was lovely all the same.
The temps had hit 80°... might have become a bit too hot for sunning snakes up there.
So, with time getting tight, we headed back. Spots that had been empty on the way in now had some snakes catching rays. There are two Garters here.
I saw some rocks in the pond through the trees. Were there turtles on them? Yup.
Painted Glory.
Our last animal before leaving the place was yet another gorgeous Garter. Andrea nearly stepped on her.
Now we had given ourselves every chance to get ice cream. We'd said if we see a 4-Toed Salamander (nope), seen 10 species of herp (nope), seen over 10 Garters (nope) or 3 baby Nerodia (nope), we could indulge. Ah, screw it. We got ice cream anyway. Then we headed into Salem two weeks before Halloween, something I said I'd never do again. But some friends were up from Tennessee and we made the effort and had a lot of fun. Andrea met Frankenstein's Monster.
And that, my dear, was a long but fun day.
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