Last Call for Hogs, Last Call for Summer. Sept. 20 and 21, 2025

The weather was supposed to be OK, sunny and mid to upper 60s so we decided to take one last shot at seeing Hognose Snakes in Plymouth County. Our timing was good... things were warming up and the sun was hitting the right spots when we got there. The bog, our first stop, was full of Bullfrogs. It has been a very good year for that species in this place in 2025. Can't say that about too many things.

Andrea spied an exception to the rule with a Green Frog.

Up on the pond, she noticed this little guy looking at me. I had no idea. I thought it was a Green but that "dorsal ridge" is just a shadow... young Bull here.

Absolute last call for Hogs... formerly our best area for them. Two stops, three long paths, over 3 miles of hiking. We struck out. Mercifully, we saw a couple of Fowler's Toads on one of the paths.

Also on that same path an Io Moth Caterpillar (Automeris io), which is a formidable-looking character. 

I did see an Io Moth flying around (I think... it had the big dots on the bottom wings) but failed to get a shot.

Does a bear shit in the woods? One did, anyway.

Over to the visitor's center in hopes of a few turtles. Three Painted Turtles were up. Not a great year for Redbells anywhere.

Whatever deity you might subscribe to (I go with Mother Nature) smiled upon us as we finally saw a snake. Four inches of edwardsii fury; a this-year's-model Ringneck.

That was that. Over five miles hiked. I doubt we'll be going back this year. Over the winter, we'll be researching some new spots because this one has been pretty shitty now for about five years. Going the season without a Hog means it's time to mix things up. Our friend Mike gave us a spot to look at in Rhode Island and we'll look at some other new spots next year. So many species we have failed on this year. Not our best. But it's all good.

The next day, I had some band business in the afternoon but we made time for a quick 3-mile walk in the morning at another place that has been crappy for us this year. At least it's in Norfolk County and I didn't have to use much gas. In our three miles, I managed to flip one thing, a this-year's model Deke.

Four inches of dekayi fury. He was pretty mellow, actually.

As the season winds down, even more than the usual depression is setting in. We're not doing Cape turtle rescue again this year. Damn, we are in horrible shape; fat and achey and lazy. We'll be checking the local dens soon and that will be all we see (and blog about) until March. Hopefully, it will be a good October. We have had some good luck during the tenth month in the past. But then, look how much our favorite spots have changed in the last couple of decades.

But hang in there, we will. If we survive.