Sly and the Family Snake: Everyday Squamates.

Easter is a day to be with the family. We had plans to go to Andrea's parent's house for Easter dinner, and we would be seeing my daughter, son in law and granddaughter as well! But surely we could be a part of another festive family gathering first! This Easter (March, 31st), with weather in the mid-high 50s, we went back to "that farm in Suffolk County" (Brook Farm) to see if the snakes were up.

Now, remember when we went last time... in 32° temps? We talked about it right here!

So, we went down to where we'd photographed the frozen Garter Snake (Sly). I poked around, while Andrea nonchalantly reached down and picked up a Garter of decent girth!

Always the lady, Andrea removed her cashmere mitts before getting musked by this fine snake.


Then Sly emerged from his hiding place...


and got a good look at the curvy gal awaiting him a few feet away...


"Baby, I'm home!"


"I love you, Sly!" "I love you too, Debbie!"




With a tear in our eyes, we moved on.

Actually, we only moved a few feet away and Andrea found another Garter.


While I was photographing this, she said that right over my shoulder were two more Garters sunning themselves... NOT Sly and Debbie!


So, we had a plethora of Thamnophis to photograph! I tried for a three-snake shot, like we got for Andrea the day before, but Andrea's guy slithered off and these two:

crawled into my sleeve!


The smaller of the two sleeve snakes had some blood on his cloaca. I don't know why. Hopefully, I hadn't stepped on him before I saw him or anything...

So, we pretty much knew where the den was! Further proof was provided by this little fella basking atop a mound in the sun, almost at eye level!


Just a short walk away, I saw some rocks on the other side of a hill. I flipped them and found this Redback.

Clearly a Redback from the top, though when I got home and saw this shot, the squared off chin made me wonder! I ran it by some herp friends who assured me that Redbacks too can have the jowly look! This is the first Redback I've seen like this in decades of herping, proving that there's always new stuff to learn!

While I was photographing the Redback, Andrea had called "Garter"! She'd found another one enjoying a warm patch of sun.


A little further up, a speedy guy streaked by the edge of the path...


We went a bit further than last time. We heard Spring Peepers, but didn't see any. But here's our proof:


On the way out, another stone flip produced two Redbacks and a Leadback!


We got back near our suspected den area and a small Garter (the small sun worshipper?) darted into the brush. I got him in my hand, but I also had a handful of pricker-bush, so I couldn't squeeze too tightly... I didn't want to stab the snake OR get any more prickers into my hand than I already had! He got away without a picture...

BUT, while I was standing there knee-deep in prickers, I saw some coils half buried in the leaves at the top of the mound! This guy was there!

He was actually a bit nippy at first, but he calmed down in Andrea's hands and did the statue thing for her...


Almost to the car, I could see a distant bump on a log... turtle? I snapped a shot:


Then the camera died. My pocket camera came up short, as well.

So, blown up, here is what we have...

Slider? Painted? Snapper?

I'm inclined to go with Red Eared Slider first, followed by a tentative Painted. At any rate, I leave this specimen as "The Mystery Turtle"!

But sheesh! What a day... 9 Garters (photographed) on the last day of March!

We went to Easter dinner stinking of musk and happy with our short (2+ hours) visit the "that farm in Suffolk County"!

We oughta be in Pictas 3-30-13

March 30th... mid 50s... let's go to our spot in Middlesex County where some of our more cold tolerant and difficult to find chelonian friends might be out! There was to be plenty of sun for basking and the foliage wouldn't be blocking our view!

Well, when the sun was behind a cloud, it was damn chilly! And the water was super-high! Most basking sights that we recalled from last year were submerged. So, being chilly and all, it took a bit before we saw our first herp... but when we did, we were pleased! It was a Leopard Frog!

We had heard them as we walked along, with their thumb-running-along-a-comb call, but were delighted to see one!

Then another! Gravid? Perhaps just fat...


How cute is a pile of sleeping Muskrats? Damn cute!


So, where were the turtles? Well, we finally saw movement; a turtle splashed into the drink just out of my eyesight. But near that was a basking Painted Turtle!


Then the guy who had splashed in hauled himself back up!


Last year, it took us forever to see our first Northern Leopard Frog... now were were seeing our third in about 15 minutes!


And then this guy, who let us get all up in his grill for close-ups!


Now, Leopards aren't endangered, but they're sure hard to see in Massachusetts! But where they are, they are abundant! See what I mean? Another!


We took a different route than usual, to stay in the sun and explore new avenues. It quickly paid off when Andrea spotted this Snapping Turtle basking!

Smallish... maybe about a 7 or 8" carapace.

Another Painted was basking!


By now, the clouds had cleared a bit and it was markedly warmer! Warm enough for this...

A super-orange Garter Snake! Check out that belly... as bright as a Ringneck's!


Another orangey fellow slid by... I managed this shot... not great but it'll do...


OK, now we were getting excited!

There were a bunch of large dead fish scattered around the water...

Coyote? Bald Eagle? (some were seen nearby) Fisher? I dunno, but this fish was almost a foot long.

I was walking along a path and I heard some splashes. Looking into the water, I saw 3 small Painteds swimming away. Damn! No pics! But Andrea noticed these guys soaking up sun on the other side of the pond!



Further up the path, I saw Andrea take a flat out full-body lunge grab for a thin Garter. I saw him elude her and slide into the pond. At least I got a pic of him...


Then I finally saw and caught my first snake! This Garter! We did the "hat trick" thing to calm him down for a nature shot. It eventually worked.


Andrea took this excellent close up:


With the sun up high, the chelonians were out in force!


^note the noggin in the water in the background!




This shot has 11 turtles in it. 2 noggins in the water (go to Flickr to enlarge it) and the 9 baskers.

The biggest one, on the left, is a Red Eared Slider. Here's his solo shot:

It's always bittersweet to see these non-native turtles. On the one hand, I adore them... they are so beautiful. BUT they're not supposed to be here and are competing with local animals for food and space. And some of the ones they're competing with at this particular National Wildlife Refuge are endangered and of special concern. Kids: DON'T LET YOUR UNWANTED PETS LOOSE!!!

So, on the way back, we decided to hit the part of the path that had the orange Garters again. I saw one and we went for the in situ shot:


Andrea looked at her feet... another!


I went to secure the first one for more photos and noticed another friend right there!


Guess we found where there's a den!

We went to poke around another place and on the way back past the "den" site, one of them was up exploring... he nosed his way upwards on a tree... it was fascinating to watch!


So yeah- all of the Garters in this spot were orangey. Our pal Bob Ferguson suggests that while hibernating, they might have been soaking in rusty water. Andrea thinks she saw some rusty areas, so that is probably the case! Hell, I love redheads, so this was great!

One more Garter... sleeping in the sun!

Decent sized and so sleepy, it didn't mind being handled!


Got time for one more Leopard Frog?


This Muskrat, now awake, was fun to watch. He'd gnaw down a reed, then dive under and get a new, green-bottomed reed and chaw it down!


Our last shot is of one of our favorite avians... the Red Winged Blackbird.

We love the call and love that they're back in Massachusetts! Spring must really be here!

So, in five hours we saw dozens of herps. Not bad for March, baby!

First Herps of the Spring! 3-24-2013

Well, we'd hoped to have a heatwave by now and have a Rattlesnake trek somewhere this weekend, but ol' Mother Nature has been a bint this year. So, we actually got excited for the predicted 46° for the day. We figured on hitting Borderland to seek out some of the other trails that we always ignore and hopefully see a Salamander or two.

We got there at about 12:30 and when we got out of the car, we were a bit worried that we'd see nothing. Pretty damn brisk, though there was no wind. Still, to be on the safe side, we shifted into birder mode and Andrea got this shot of a Tufted Titmouse at the feeder.

Has it really come to this?!

We went down to the pond where we often see large Water Snakes and Garters, but there was still plenty of snow and ice. The water, which is usually quiet, was raging!


So, we went along the usual trail, intending to branch off on to other trails when they came up. It wasn't long before I heard Andrea yell "Garter"! To my amazement, I turned around and she had a frisky little Garter Snake by the tail! She needed some assistance as he was wrapped around a stick.

Evidently, I'd stirred him up walking by! He was warm to the touch. Why am I not posting pictures? Because while I was getting him under control, Andrea was taking this in situ  shot of yet another Garter, two feet away, basking on the edge of a vernal pool!


These snakes are as desperate as we are for warm weather!

Here's the nicely checked first guy!



After making an attempt to get nearer the basking one (who was much bigger) only to have him slide into the icy pool and disappear, we released this guy and watched him slither off.


So, two Garters at 46°... these are not the Garters of my youth!! Maybe they're Robo-Thamnophis!

So, we stayed on the regular trail in hopes of finding more cold resistant snakes. But over the next 3 1/2 hours, we never did!

But Borderland is gorgeous and we saw many spots that we hadn't noticed last year.


This spot had always been dry in our experience. Not this time!


This babbling brook where we'd caught many a Water Snake before actually had white-caps!


It wasn't until we were on our way back to the car when a flip produced what we had come for in the first place... a Redback Salamander!


Unfortunately, we'll be missing next weekend's event...


But, we're happy to have seen two species and to have Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis be both our last herp of the winter and our first herp of the spring! Yay 2013!